Undying Champion
by TheHonoraryAmerican
Summary: AU. Patriotic pride, and a dream that never dies. Jennifer Jareau is not one to give up easily at all... not even when she's challenged by the world's best. Rated T for mature scenes. Inspired by the Olympic Games. Rated M for mature scenes and references.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: So in honour of the upcoming Olympic Games and the amount I've learned about gymnastics in the last four years (including firsthand experience of a dislocated shoulder (that's for those of you who read Mind Over Matter)), I have decided to delete and rewrite my Olympic AU, Mind Over Matter. It most likely will follow a different storyline, but with better gymnastics focus, so I hope you enjoy it!**

 **(Very gymnastics focused this chapter, I promise I'll focus more on JJ in the coming chapters, and I may slot other team members in too)**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds or any of its characters and affiliates. I am in no way associated with USA Gymnastics, the Olympic Games, or the International Olympic Committee.**

* * *

" _Good evening ladies and gentleman, I'm Al Trautwig and I'm here with Elfi Schlegel and Tim Daggett for the 2012 Visa Championships. Tonight, we watch as these gymnasts continue their journey, a journey that for five girls will culminate in a ticket to the Olympic Games in London this summer"_

" _And the United States could not be in a better position this year, we have some of the best gymnasts in the world right now, all vying for one of those coveted spots on the Olympic team. It's going to be a heck of a Nationals, that's for sure"_

" _Who are our top contenders for London, do you think?"_

" _Well, everyone right now is just gushing about Jordyn Wieber, I would say she's an absolute lock for London. She's the current World all-around champion, and let me tell you, you don't leave someone with a title like that at home. Then there's other top names in the mix, most of whom competed at the most recent World Championships in Tokyo. Aly Raisman, absolutely solid when you need her to be, Gabby Douglas, strong across all four pieces, Jennifer Jareau can hit beam and floor like no-one's business, Kyla Ross is beautiful on bars and beam, McKayla Maroney is the world's greatest vaulter right now, Elizabeth Price, Sarah Finnegan... the list goes on forever, Al. I honestly believe that the USA could put together two teams, send them both to London, and go 1-2 for the gold and silver medals. What are your thoughts Elfi?"_

" _One of those names sticks out to me Tim, Jennifer Jareau. She's been on the scene as a senior since 2010, and while she may not be one of the big names like Jordyn Wieber or Aly Raisman, she's one to watch over these next couple of days of Championships and on to the Olympic Trials"_

" _That's right, she came second to Rebecca Bross at the 2010 Visa Championships, and she's the two time US National Champion on balance beam, the current World Champion on beam, and a World medallist on floor exercise. She's a quiet achiever, and definitely one to keep your eye on"_

The arena around her was abuzz with noise, but nothing short of a bomb going off was going to break Jennifer Jareau's focus. She was intent on performing to the best of her ability, in order to impress Marta Karolyi and the selection committee, as well as place high enough to earn an automatic berth to the Olympic Trials.

" _She'll be up first on vault, and vaulting is probably where she's weakest, although her bars and her vault are roughly the same"_

" _I'll never forget that team final in Rotterdam in 2010... she was last up to vault for the Americans, and as she did her back handspring onto the vaulting table, she hit it at such an angle that her shoulder dislocated as she blocked. She was unable to compete for the remainder of the World Championships, and her comeback last year was quite steady, but this year she's back to competing all-around, to show Marta she is well and truly ready for the Games"_

Bouncing up and down on the balls of her feet, JJ kept her gaze glued to the vaulting table at the opposite end of the runway. This would only be the second time she had vaulted in competition since her injury in 2010, and she wanted to make sure it was a good vault that counted.

Somewhere, up in the stands, she knew her parents and brother were watching intently. She knew her mother would be on the edge of her seat; watching her daughter perform death defying gymnastics skills was not a pastime Sandy Jareau had ever imagined herself partaking in.

This was it. The start of Nationals, the continuation of a dream she had worked her whole life to achieve. From here, the top ten all-arounders would earn an automatic berth to the Olympic Trials, and to the final camp at the Ranch before the selection took place.

" _And now on vault, for Romero's, Jennifer Jareau!"_

Lifting her chin, JJ allowed a small smile to cross her face as she raised her arms up and presented to the judges.

" _This should be a nice clean start for JJ... despite the injury, she remained fairly steady on vault. It'll be uneven bars that give her a hard time"_

Stepping back as she poised herself to run, she fixed a steely gaze against the apparatus. Moments later, she had taken off down the runway, hurdling powerfully into her round off, back handspring. Her hands hit the table firmly, rebounding her into the air as she started to twist.

Seconds later, it was all over. Her feet hit the mat as she straightened up facing the vault table, having completed two clean twists in the air.

Happy with her performance, she turned, presenting to the judges with a smile before she skipped off the podium to rejoin Nicholas, her longtime coach.

" _That was a really good vault for JJ, nice clean form in the air, good block off the table, and a secure landing. She looks happy with that, and so does Marta"_

"That looked good. We'll work on your block a little more in the gym this week, a little more height will give you some more time for your landing, but that was good, nice job," Nicholas rattled off as he gave JJ a squeeze. "Start getting ready for bars"

Taking a deep breath, JJ nodded.

Onto bars.

* * *

" _It's been an amazing first night here at the 2012 Visa Championships. Jordyn Wieber is leading the standings, with Gabby Douglas nipping at her heels, and for a surprise finish in third, Jennifer Jareau!"_

" _She's had a great night, and I think it's going to really boost her confidence heading into these Olympic Trials. She nailed beam, but the event that set her apart from Aly Raisman, because both of them are fairly level in the scores, was uneven bars, surprisingly"_

" _Yes, JJ has a less muscular build than Aly and even though she's not strongest on bars, having long lines and clean gymnastics contributed to her higher score. She's having a great Championships so far. I can't wait to see what happens on Friday night!"_


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: AHHHH! RIO IS SO CLOSE, YOU WOULD NOT BELIEVE HOW EXCITED I AM!**

* * *

She was on the podium, a bronze medal around her neck as the crowd around them clapped and cheered for the newly crowned United States All-Around national champion, Jordyn Wieber. On Jordyn's other side stood a very happy Gabby Douglas, her silver all-around medal and gold bars medal gleaming under the lights.

JJ had scraped out a third place all-around finish, surpassing Aly Raisman by mere tenths to take the bronze medal. She had also managed to reclaim her national beam title, as well as take silver on the floor exercise. But even better than the three medals around her neck was the knowledge that she had secured her place at the Olympic Trials. Next week, she and the other twelve girls would join forces for one last time at the Ranch in Texas, before being divided by the Trials; the girls going to London, and the girls staying home.

With five weeks until the Games began, the pressure was mounting. But in JJ, the desire to go to the Olympics was stronger than ever, and she knew she had to take full advantage of the chance she'd been given.

She'd never forgive herself if she didn't.

* * *

A week back home in Pittsburgh, while filled with intense training sessions, allowed JJ to recharge after Nationals and to start mentally preparing for the final stage of the selection process.

Haphazardly throwing clothes and gym gear into her bag to take with her to the Ranch, JJ didn't even hear her mother enter her room behind her.

"Excited?" Sandy asked softly, making JJ jump slightly as she whirled around. "Sorry... I didn't mean to frighten you"

JJ softened, her face relaxing into a smile. "I'm nervous... it's a lot of pressure... but yes, I am excited"

Smiling, Sandy stepped forward, placing her hands on JJ's shoulders. Even at almost eighteen years old (she would turn eighteen a week before the Olympics opened), JJ was so much smaller than her mother, standing at just four feet, ten inches tall.

In all the gymnastics, the competitions, and the training, Sandy sometimes forgot that her daughter was barely an adult, even though she had hardly had a childhood.

"A little bit of nerves is always good," Sandy said with a smile. "I think you've always performed better when you're a little nervous"

JJ nodded, reaching up and covering one of her mother's hands with her own.

"I just want you to know... no matter what happens in the next couple of weeks, your dad and I are incredibly proud of you. You've worked so hard for this opportunity... we're supporting you all the way," Sandy said warmly, pulling JJ into a hug.

"Thanks Mom," JJ replied quietly, wrapping her arms around her mom and holding on for a moment before pulling back. She gave her mom one last smile before moving over to her closet as Sandy took a seat on the edge of the bed.

"Ready for camp?" Sandy asked as JJ rifled through the contents of her closet.

"Pretty much. Even though I just saw the girls last week, I'm excited to see them again. But it'll be kind of weird... going to camp and knowing that five of us will be going to London and the rest won't," JJ replied, selecting a few last items and carrying them over to her bag.

Sandy didn't reply. Now that the number of days until the Olympic team was decided had dropped under twenty, the reality of it was hitting home. Her daughter was an exceptional gymnast, a World Champion who could hold her own amongst the best of the best... but in Marta Karolyi's eyes, was JJ part of the package she wanted to send to the Olympics?

Years and years of hard work and determination had culminated in a real shot at the ultimate dream, but what would they do if JJ was relegated to alternate, or left off the team entirely? Of course, they would still be proud of her for all she had achieved, but they had put in all the time over the years with the hope of it resulting in an Olympic berth.

Sandy couldn't help but feel like they would flounder if JJ didn't make the team. Floating in transition from Olympic hopeful to the one who didn't make it.

She was broken from her thoughts by JJ placing a hand on her shoulder.

"No matter what happens," she said softly.

"No matter what happens," Sandy replied with a smile, feeling a sense of relief flood through her at the realisation that regardless of the outcome of the Olympic Trials, JJ would be ok.

If all else failed, she would fight onwards for Rio. Of that, Sandy was sure.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: When I wake up in the morning, the women's team for the 2016 Olympic Games will have been named. I'm so excited and so nervous. Please leave a review!**

* * *

Her entire body was aching, muscles screaming in protest as she swung giants on the uneven bars. In a bid to make herself as much of an all-around contender as Gabby and Jordyn for the Olympic team, JJ and Nicholas had opted to make the most of the time at the ranch, and use it to clean up JJ's bars form and possibly connect another two elements, raising her difficulty level.

"And, come down," Nicholas said as JJ reached the bottom of the swing. With a huff, JJ let go and dropped to the mats, adjusting her grips and brushing her hair back from her face.

"Your bars are looking better," came Marta's thick East European accent from behind JJ. Turning around, JJ smiled at the team coordinator as Marta cupped her cheeks. "Much better, I like very much"

"Thank you Marta," JJ said softly. Nicholas smiled behind them as he watched the interaction. Marta was fond of all the girls, but the close interactions were generally limited until the last training session of the camp.

As Marta moved on to examine an element of Jordyn Wieber's floor routine, JJ faltered, her expression crumbling as she turned towards Nicholas.

"What? What's the matter?" Nicholas asked anxiously, leaping into action as he saw the beginnings of waterworks from his gymnast.

"My shoulder," JJ choked out, fighting back her tears with incredible difficulty. "It's hurting me, and I don't know why"

"Ok," Nicholas said softly. "Take a few deep breaths, alright? Don't lose it over this, everyone always says how calm and collected you are all the time"

As JJ tried to calm herself down, Nicholas felt a flutter of worry in his stomach. JJ didn't normally cry over pain or injuries. Was this a sign of the pressure starting to get to her? Was she starting to crack with Trials just eight days away?

"Let's get some ice on it, and then the physio can take a look. You've put in a lot of work on bars these past few days and your shoulder isn't used to that," Nicholas said gently.

Exhaling heavily, JJ nodded, wiping away what remained of her tears.

Now was not the time to break down.

* * *

Lying awake well into the early hours of the morning, JJ couldn't help but allow her mind to wander to the prospect of the next two weeks.

A week from today, the Olympic Trials, the competition of her _life_ , would begin.

Part of her couldn't believe that she'd made it this far. From humble beginnings in the sweaty, dusty atmosphere of Nick's gym in East Allegheny, to part of the national team who would be competing for the honour of representing the United States at the Olympic Games come the end of July.

As grateful as she was to have made it this far and to be given the opportunity to experience the Olympic process, JJ knew that despite having told herself to just enjoy every moment, she would be incredibly disappointed if it didn't result in an Olympic place. To come so far to miss out... she would never let it go.

Rolling over, JJ closed her eyes as her resolve stiffened.

When the sun rose, the girls would rise, and pack their things before having one last training session with Marta. And after that, they would head back home to prepare for Trials.

JJ wasn't going to remain the quiet achiever. Come Trials, she was going to go out there and battle to the very last skill, she was going to fight tooth and nail for a spot on that team.

Having lost her sister on the day London was announced as the host for the 2012 Olympic Games, JJ knew it was the least she could do.

For Rosaline, she would go to the Games. All or nothing.

She was in it to win.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: For those who aren't gym savvy, whenever I mention skills in chapters, I'm going to include a skill description down the bottom. Hope it helps!**

* * *

This was it.

Night two of Trials was nearly over, and JJ knew she had to finish spectacularly.

She had done her job so far. Vault and bars had been steady over both nights, scoring at least 15 on all four counts. Beam had been completely solid, as she knew was expected of her, posting the highest beam score both nights of competition.

Now she just had to hit floor one last time, and as the last competitor, the nerves were building. When her score was posted, Marta and the committee would go into a room and select the five names of the athletes who would compete in London.

" _On floor for Romero's, Jennifer Jareau!"_

Presenting to the judges as the crowd cheered her on, JJ stepped onto the floor and assumed her starting pose, taking a deep breath to help herself focus as she did.

Her music filled the arena, dramatic and intense, yet lively. She flowed through the music, moving into the corner and exhaling before taking off into her first tumbling pass, a round-off into two whipbacks, followed by a double Arabian into a beautifully controlled stag leap.

The nerves ebbed away as she moved through her performance. Her second pass was rock solid; a triple twisting layout, followed by a full in for her third.

Before she knew it, she had stuck her double pike dismount and was on the floor in her final pose, a smile crossing her face as the arena exploded into rapturous applause.

" _That should just about do it for Jennifer Jareau! What a performance!"_

" _I think she's just sealed a place on the team next to Jordyn, Aly, and Gabby"_

Saluting the judges as she stood up, she was fighting hard to swallow the lump in her throat. She had just given two days of competition, eight routines of a lifetime.

Nicholas wrapped her in his arms as the tears began to flow. Marta and the committee were already rising from their chairs, on their way to the quiet room where the team would be decided.

Now they just had to wait.

* * *

The arena had been cleared ahead of the team announcement. Sandy and Michael had long since watched their daughter disappear into the depths of the building, heading to the locker room to wait with her friends, her national teammates, girls she had spent most of her life getting to know through team camps.

JJ's floor routine had stirred the settling emotion in Sandy, and even though the team had yet to be announced, she was already fighting back tears.

"No matter the result JJ gets," Michael said softly, taking his wife's hand. "She's done amazing things over these past two days of competition"

Sandy nodded, turning and wrapping her arms around her husband in a hug. They hoped more than anything that their daughter's ultimate dream would be achieved, that all the sacrifice, the blood, sweat, and tears would pay off.

"Good evening!" came the voice of Steve Penny, breaking them apart as they turned their attention to the head of USA Gymnastics amongst ecstatic applause.

"I am proud to announce, the five ladies who will represent the United States at the 2012 Olympic Games in London!"

The cheers escalated. The announcement was imminent. Sandy felt sick.

"Gabrielle Douglas!"

The doors through which they had seen the girls leave through earlier reopened as Gabby came out carrying a bouquet of flowers, tears streaming down her face as the emotion threatened to overwhelm her. As she ascended the podium to stand on the floor once more, Steve lifted the microphone once more.

"Jennifer Jareau!"

Immediately bursting into tears, Sandy threw her arms around her husband, noticing that he had also started to cry. Beside them, Jason was cheering wildly for his sister as she walked out to join Gabby, also in tears.

In succession, the remaining three names were called out. McKayla Maroney. Alexandra Raisman.

When the final name was called out, the gasp that went around the arena was not missed by a single person.

Because the final name called was Kyla Ross.

Not Jordyn Wieber. The reigning world all-around champion.

Someone had beat her out to make the team.

The alternates were named minutes later; Sarah Finnegan, Anna Li, and Jordyn Wieber.

Even through devastated tears, Jordyn was able to congratulate the five girls who had made the team ahead of her. Confetti fell around them as their male counterparts joined them on the floor to the chorus of _ladies and gentlemen, America's team!_

As devastated as she was for Jordyn, JJ was beyond the happiest she had ever felt. She had achieved it. The Olympic dream.

She was going to London.

* * *

 **SKILL GUIDE:**

 _Whipback –_ back handspring in which the hands don't touch the ground

 _Double Arabian –_ From a back handspring, the gymnast punches (rebounds from her feet) and executes a half turn in the air before doing two front flips to land facing the opposite way from which the tumbling run began

 _Full in_ – double back tucked flip with a full twist in the first rotation


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Oh my god the Olympics were AMAZING! There was a non big 4 (USA, China, Russia, Romania) medallist on every event!**

* * *

Camp had passed in a complete blur.

Nicholas had told JJ before arriving that the camp would easily be the most demanding camp she had ever attended, and JJ had relished the challenge.

Nine days of intensive training, fine tuning routines, and hammering out the last imperfections had rounded out an incredibly strong team ahead of the Olympic Games.

Before they knew it, they had gathered up all their belongings and packed their bags. By late afternoon, they were boarding the bus to George Bush Intercontinental Airport.

JJ had spoken to her parents that morning, and while she was missing them, speaking to them had made her feel better. After all, it was only four weeks, and it was four weeks in which she was going to have the experience of a lifetime.

Dropping down beside Aly, she bit back a smile as she thought of what was to come.

The bus started to pull away from the ranch, passing the sign that read ' _Official U.S. Olympic Training Site'_ , and a pang of sadness hit JJ's heart. So many gymnasts only lasted one Olympic cycle. Would this be the last time she ever saw the ranch?

Pushing the thought away, JJ redirected her mind back to the Games. She would allow herself to evaluate her gymnastics career at the conclusion of the Olympics. Right now, she had a job to do, and the experience of a lifetime to soak up.

"I can't believe we're getting on a plane and going to the Olympics," Aly said softly, a hint of uncontrollable excitement in her voice.

"I know," JJ replied, a smile spreading across her face. "It's so surreal. My mom is so excited but she's so nervous at the same time"

Aly laughed. "My mom is a nervous wreck, maybe they should sit together"

JJ chuckled, her hand tightening around the handful of her _Team USA_ sweatshirt she was clutching. The road outside began to widen, the trees giving way to civilisation. They were well and truly on their way.

* * *

A stopover in New York had allowed the group to stretch their legs before the longer flight to London. Excited and eager, Aly, McKayla and Gabby had given the coaches a run for their money, chatting excitedly as they seemingly bounced around the terminal. Marta had attempted to get the girls to calm down but had eventually given up with a smile, knowing there was plenty of time after arriving in London to get them focused on the competition. Being a little more reserved, JJ had opted to sit and chat with Kyla, who she was friendly with but didn't know very well, Kyla having only turned senior that year.

Seated between Mihai and Aly after shuffling their seats before takeoff, JJ had unknowingly fallen asleep sometime after the meal service. She felt like she'd barely blinked before Aly was shaking her shoulder to wake her up.

"Look!" Aly said softly, pointing out the window.

Bleary eyed, JJ leaned over her teammate to peer out the window. The clouds were breaking beneath the aircraft as they descended into London, and for the first time, JJ laid eyes on the city in which she hoped all her Olympic dreams came true.

The lights of the city could be seen in the distance, and JJ could just make out the shape of the London Eye. A smile crossed her face; she was really here.

"Wow," she breathed as she settled back in her seat.

They were in London.

* * *

Marta wasted no time.

By nine am the next day, the girls were in training. Conditioning, stretching, and strength exercises were to be fully completed before anyone even _thought_ about attempting tumbles or leaps; Marta knew all too well the havoc flying could wreak on conditioned muscles, even over shorter distances.

JJ was exhausted, and while she knew it was just the travelling and her body adjusting to the time zone, it was frustrating her that she felt like she had no energy.

By the time they got to practising routines, just the thought of running a vault made her want to crawl back into bed.

Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath. This wasn't the first time she had trained feeling less than exceptional. She knew what she had to do, she was just going to have to dig a little deeper to get it done.

* * *

Slamming the bathroom door as she heard Aly enter the room a few moments behind her, JJ sank to the floor in a flood of tears.

Training had been a disaster.

She had fallen on almost every tumbling run, barring her double pike. Bars had been great until the last moment, when she had lost her grip and peeled off instead of dismounting properly. Visibly shaken by then, she had taken a scary fall on beam before severely under rotating her vault and stumbling off the landing mat.

Surely she wasn't going to be kept on the team after that.

"JJ?"

"Go away," JJ sobbed, burying her face in her arms as her body shook with tears.

"I'm not gonna do that," Aly said softly. "Can I come in?"

JJ stayed silent, working to fight back her tears as the latch on the door clicked and Aly slipped into the room. She sat herself down opposite JJ, stretching her legs out alongside her teammate.

"What's going on?"

JJ didn't reply, instead choosing to avoid Aly's concerned gaze.

"JJ…"

"I don't think I can do this," JJ admitted, her voice barely above a whisper as more tears spilled over. "I'm the worst one on the team, Aly, I'm a total disaster"

"No you're not," Aly said quickly. "JJ, you had one dodgy training session. It's not the end of the world. Better to get the falls out of your system now than out on the competition floor. Besides... you're tired, we all are. None of us had great days and Marta recognises that"

"What if I go out there and screw everything up?" JJ asked timidly, her voice full of fear and worry.

"You won't," Aly said reassuringly. "You're our World Champion beamer. You've always hit when we need you to, it's why you're on this team"

"Marta should have picked Jordyn," JJ said softly.

"Would you have been happy with that decision?" Aly asked gently. "You've worked your whole life for the Olympics, JJ, and now you're here, you're about to have the competition of a lifetime"

JJ sniffed as Aly put her arms around her and gave her a squeeze.

"Please don't tell anyone about this," JJ whispered pleadingly.

Aly said nothing, simply keeping her arms around her friend as she tried to offer her comfort.

The Olympics hadn't even begun and the pressure was already mounting.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Short one but a good one.**

* * *

The group was quiet as they stretched the following morning in the training hall. McKayla and Kyla were chatting in hushed tones at the end of the line while Mihai directed their warmup.

JJ felt completely off kilter. Yesterday's disaster was still fresh in her mind and she had spent the whole night buried under the covers praying that she wouldn't be kicked off the team come morning.

"JJ," came Marta's soft voice from behind Mihai.

Looking up, JJ swallowed thickly as Marta gently beckoned for her to join her.

Standing up slowly, JJ walked hesitantly over to the national team coordinator, the anxiety she was feeling in her stomach showing clearly on her face.

Smiling, Marta put an arm around JJ's shoulders and turned so they were facing away from the team, giving them a little more privacy.

"Aly told me you got upset after practicing yesterday and start to doubting yourself," Marta said gently, the words greeting JJ's ears easily even through her thick European accent.

JJ's face fell. Aly had broken her confidence.

"She also told me you ask her not to say anything," Marta added. "But she was worrying"

JJ stayed silent, her gaze falling to the ground before Marta reached out and tipped up her chin.

"I don't want you to doubt yourself, JJ. There is a good reason I put you on the team. You have beautiful gymnastics and I know you hit when I need it," Marta said softly. She chuckled slightly before speaking again. "The Olympics are little bit scary, I know. But they also to be most incredible moments of your life"

JJ managed a smile. To hear the team coordinator reveal her concern and offer her comfort… it was something JJ greatly appreciated.

"Believe in yourself... because I do," Marta finished, giving JJ a squeeze and patting her cheek in her trademark fashion.

JJ's heart swelled.

It was like they were the only words she had needed to hear.

* * *

The days passed quickly, and the intensity was beginning to rise. JJ had only gotten better with each passing day, as had the other girls on the team, and their confidence and team spirit was rising the closer to the opening ceremony they got.

Amidst all the excitement was the pressure of the looming team gold medal they had been sent to London to bring home. They didn't want to get too cocky, despite their good chances of winning the team final, and so JJ spent a majority of the time pushing thoughts of Olympic medals out of her head.

It was one night after training when she and Aly were resting in their room that the subject of potential medals finally came up.

"Do you think we can do it Aly?" JJ asked quietly as the Friends theme song rang out from the TV.

"Win?"

"Yeah," JJ affirmed, pushing herself up.

Aly took a deep breath.

"I think if we just go out there and do what we know how to do, we have a really good chance," she said with a smile. "I know we're not supposed to think about it... but all I've been able to think about lately is standing on top of the podium"

JJ grinned. "Me too. I've dreamed about it since I was a little kid"

Aly reached out, squeezing JJ's hand. "And now we're really here!"

JJ laughed. "Yes we are!"

For reasons unbeknownst to them, they were consumed by laughter as they settled back into watching TV. The build up to competition was intense, but as long as they could laugh with each other at the end of the day... somehow, they would get through it.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: If anyone would like a breakdown of how the scoring works in gymnastics since they shifted from the perfect 10 system, let me know in your review and I'll stick it in the next chapter.**

* * *

"Come on Mac, you got it!"

The lights were bright, the crowd excited. Standing alongside Kyla on the competition floor, JJ was flooded with a wave of nerves. But they were also drowned out with untameable excitement.

The day had really arrived. She was really here, taking part in her first competition at the Olympic Games. The very day she had dreamed about since she was just a little girl was now a reality. Here she stood, in the North Greenwich Arena, USA emblazoned on the arm of her leotard, with an excited crowd of Olympic spectators surrounding the competition floor.

She had been in this position at Worlds; her country's colours on her back and an excited crowd around her. But this was totally different.

"On vault, representing the United States of America, McKayla Maroney!" came the event announcer's voice, calm but strong above the noise of the arena.

McKayla took a deep breath, lifting her arms and presenting to the judges before taking her signature step back at the end of the runway.

Seconds later, she was launching down the runway and rocketing off the vaulting table. A gasp drew from the crowd as she rose into the air, her form on her Amanar so beautiful that even the uneducated spectator knew it was good.

When she landed with only a small step, there was rapturous applause. McKayla presented to the judges, turning and leaving the landing mat to return to the end of the runway; as a vault specialist, she would be performing two vaults in order to qualify to the vault event final.

Moving towards the stairs at the runway end of the podium, JJ took a deep breath. She was to go up next to vault after McKayla, her first competitive routine of the Olympic Games. These scores would count, she knew that.

Up in the stands, the three Jareau's were sitting nervously, waiting for the moment when JJ's Olympic debut would come.

Sandy knew JJ would hit as she always did, but a part of her did worry about the nerves, the pressure her daughter would be feeling. Team USA had not won Olympic gold as a team since the Magnificent Seven achieved it for the first time at the Atlanta Games in 1996. This team, the 2012 Olympic team, was by far the strongest team that the USA had fielded at the Olympics since then, and the entire country as a whole was the strongest it had been for a long time. The five young girls down on the competition floor, none of them older than eighteen, had the weight of a nation on their shoulders, a nation that was expecting another gold to add to the tally.

Closing her eyes, Sandy took a deep breath. Sure, the watching public back at home could sit and simply expect the girls to win, but none of them would ever understand just how hard it was as a parent of an Olympian. Watching JJ achieve her dreams was one of the greatest moments of Sandy's life so far, but it was also causing her a relative amount of stress.

Feeling her husband squeeze her hand, Sandy opened her eyes again, looking over at him with a smile. McKayla had completed her two vaults, and JJ was now standing at the end of the runway, her eyes focused on the vaulting table.

"She's going to be great. No matter what," Michael said softly amidst the crowd around them.

"I know," Sandy replied, turning her attention back to her daughter, dressed in metallic blue and as focused as ever as she waited for the green flag.

Finally, it came. With one last deep breath, JJ was saluting the judges. Moments later, she too was rocketing down the runway. Her rise off the vaulting table was certainly not as ecstatic as McKayla's had been, but it was still good, and so she landed her double twisting Yurchenko with very little trouble.

"Good girl! That's my girl!" Michael yelled, cheering with the other Americans in their section as JJ saluted the judges and left the podium, the smile on her face visible from a mile off.

* * *

The following rotations had given the American girls very little trouble indeed, and even though the scores were not yet finalised with two subdivisions remaining to qualify, it was clear Team USA was going to lead into the final with a very comfortable cushion.

Bars had understandably been their weakest rotation, with their top bar worker, Gabby Douglas, putting up a score of 15.333; a score that once qualifications were over, would have her in the bars final somewhere around fifth or sixth place. However, the routines were solid with the best execution the girls could manage. The only error anyone had noticed was one that occurred in JJ's routine, on her transition from the high to the low bar. For some reason, she had developed a slight kink in the transition, one that Nicholas was trying to hammer out, that resulted in a rather noticeable form break upon catching the low bar. It was not a grave error, as she still managed to earn a spot in the final, but it still cost her a few tenths in deductions on a score that both Marta and JJ knew could potentially be much higher.

Beam, arguably the most stressful event of the four, had probably been their greatest of the three so far. JJ had gone third after Gabby and Aly, in what would be the anchoring position come the team final, and had put up a staggering 15.600 to qualify first into the beam final with a two tenth lead over her closest competitor, Sui Lu of China. It was a number that had even surprised Marta and Nick; JJ was known for high beam scores, certainly, but they had never expected her Olympic scores to outdo her domestic scores. Sandy had been able to breathe easier the second JJ landed her full twisting double tuck dismount; as amazing as JJ was on beam, it was the hardest event for her to watch.

Floor had been troublesome for Gabby and Kyla, with both of them counting steps out of bounds on their double Arabians to score below 14. However, JJ and Aly had both come in fighting, both putting up dramatic, exciting and stirring routines that took the two highest floor scores of the night and secured them both a spot in the event final.

Having completed her first Olympic competition, JJ was feeling a little exhilarated, the smile on her face showcasing that to the entire team.

"We're first into team finals at the moment, we did it girls! I'm so proud of you!"Aly called out as they all huddled together on the sidelines. "So we had a few mistakes, but now we know what we have to work on for Tuesday night. We just have to go out there and keep showing people why we're the best in the world. Think of those world medals at home, think of why we earned them"

Straightening up, they all stacked their hands in the centre of the huddle.

"1…2…3… TEAM USA!" they cried proudly, throwing their hands into the air as they started to smile and relax for the first time that day.

As they broke away from each other and went back to their coaches, Nick grinned, pulling JJ back against him and tipping her chin up towards the scoreboard in the middle of the arena.

"You're in the all-around final," he said with a chuckle.

"What?" JJ asked in disbelief. While consistent, she had never considered herself one of the two strongest all-arounders on the American team; she would have given that over to Aly and Gabby. "Where does it say that?"

"Look at the scoreboard. You're in first all-around right now, which means you're guaranteed a spot in the final. I'll check the final scores tonight so we know exactly where you stand, but I think the only challenge will come from the Russians"

Breaking into the biggest smile of the day, JJ spun around and threw her arms around her coach.

Here she was at the Olympic Games, and she had qualified to her first major all-around final.

Despite the nerves, the pressure, and the mistakes that had slipped through, it had been a great day for the American girls, and no-one could take that away from them.

* * *

 **Skill Guide:**

 _Amanar –_ 2.5 twisting Yurchenko. Roundoff onto the springboard, backflip onto the table. The gymnast executes two laidout flips (technically one and a half since the laidout flip begins when the hands leave the vaulting table) with 2.5 twists to land facing away from the vaulting table. Named for Romanian gymnast, Simona Amanar, the first gymnast to perform it. In the 2009-2012 Code of Points (aka, the code under which this story starts), it was valued at 6.5 (maximum score 16.5). Following the Rio Olympics (where it was valued at 6.3), it has dropped to 5.8 (if anyone wants an explanation why, message me, I'm always happy to talk gymnastics)

 _DTY_ – double twisting Yurchenko. Same as above, only with two twists. Valued at 5.8 through 2012 and 2016. Has also been devalued as of the Rio Games.

 _FTDT dismount –_ technically the same as a full in on floor; the gymnast punches from the beam and completes two tucked backwards flips with a full twist in the first flip. One of the hardest dismounts being competed to date.

 **Info:**

Typically, scores at the Olympics will be lower than they are at a National Championships or other domestic meet; this is usually true of the Americans, who appear to be wildly overscored at home when scores are compared between Olympics and Nationals. I would argue the Olympic scoring is a little more accurate, however, the ratio is equal; a gymnast who couldn't beat Simone Biles under US scoring will not suddenly beat her at the Olympics.

Hence my mention of Olympic vs domestic scoring.


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: As simple as it was, I actually had a lot of fun making the scoreboard in this chapter, so would you like me to do that for each final?**

 **(The scoreboard had amazing formatting and actually looked like the text did on the LED display in London, but unfortunately, Fanfiction is a bit of a bitch and removed all my tabs and spaces. Sorry guys. I still want to include them for other finals!)**

* * *

In her dazzling red leotard adorned with Swarovski crystals as far as the eye could see, JJ felt incredible as she stood in the holding area beneath the arena with her teammates. She'd had a number of beautiful leotards over the course of her career, but this Olympic one was truly something else. It hd made all five girls look and feel absolutely amazing, and therefore, had been chosen as their attire for the team final.

"All the gymnasts are ready to go," JJ heard one of the event managers say into his radio. The butterflies in her stomach grew, but she kept her game face on. Behind her, Kyla took a deep breath, and JJ immediately knew she was feeling the same nerves.

Out in the arena, JJ listened as the music changed from calm to something more upbeat as the crowd began to clap along.

"Ladies and gentleman, welcome to the North Greenwich Arena for the women's artistic team final!" the announcer called out, his voice so steady it sounded almost recorded.

"Please put your hands together and make some noise for the gymnasts as they enter the arena!"

And then they were walking along to rhythmic clapping and upbeat music, one after the other behind their group leaders. They walked in the order that they would be competing in the first rotation; Gabby led the Americans, followed by Aly, then McKayla, JJ, and then Kyla, their coaches bringing up the rear. The Russians followed, led by Aliya Mustafina, Viktoria Komova, and Maria Paseka.

They were teamed with Russia as their rotation partner, who had inevitably qualified in second place following their subdivision. 2008 Olympic veteran Ksenia Afanasyeva was leading a talented team, one that could truly put the challenge to the USA. 2010 World all-around champion, Aliya Mustafina, known for her steely gaze and sideline quirks, was back in competition for the first time since blowing her left ACL at the European Championships the previous year. Rumours had been flying that she hadn't completed full routines since then, and the Olympics were to be her first complete set.

Following Aliya was the 2011 World uneven bars champion, Viktoria Komova. Viktoria was a beautiful gymnast, who had come in behind Jordyn Wieber the previous year in the all-around, her first year as a senior. She was a fierce competitor who put immense pressure on herself, a trait which showed clearly when she fell short of her goals.

Joining the three more experienced girls were two relatively new names; Maria Paseka, a specialist on vault, and Anastasia Grishina, a first year senior who looked a little overwhelmed by the entire Olympic experience, but ready to compete either way.

The ten girls stood down the side of the podium, waiting to be led up and presented to the judges for the start of competition. For JJ, it was all a blur of excitement and nerves. She focused on her breathing as they were finally led up to stand in front of the judges and have their names announced to the arena. She had to stay focused, but still enjoy it. They were at the Olympics, and this was their moment.

She listened as Gabby's name, then Aly's, then McKayla's were called out, each getting a polite smattering of applause and some cheers from the US section of the crowd.

"Jennifer Jareau!"

Stepping forward, JJ beamed as she waved first directly in front of her and then turned to wave to the crowd behind her. She got the same round of applause, and had to admit it was rather uplifting. The audience seemed really excited for what was to follow.

After Kyla's name was called, the girls stood there, smiling politely as each team was called out. Russia, China (Sui Lu, Deng LinLin, He Kexin, Yao Jinnan, and Huang Qiushuang), Romania (Catalina Ponor, Sandra Izbasa, Larisa Iordache, Diana Chelaru, and Diana Bulimar), Great Britain (Beth Tweddle, Imogen Cairns, Hannah Whelan, Rebecca Tunney, and Jennifer Pinches), Japan (Asuka Teramoto, Yuko Shintake, Koko Tsurumi, Rie Tanaka, and Yu Minobe), Italy (Vanessa Ferrari, Carlotta Ferlito, Erika Fasana, Elisabetta Preziosa, and Giorgia Campana), and Canada (Brittany Rogers, Kristina Vaculik, Elsabeth Black, Victoria Moors, and Dominique Pegg). Great Britain by far got the loudest roar from the crowd, and Beth Tweddle received the loudest of the five, a true indicator of just how strong the home crowd was.

"Gymnasts. You may commence warmup"

Kyla and JJ left the podium, the Russians behind them as the three American vaulters began their one touch warmup.

"You ready for this?" Kyla asked quietly as they reached their bags and began to pull their team warm-ups back on; neither of them were competing until the next rotation on uneven bars, and it was important that they kept warm and relaxed until then.

"Shit scared," JJ admitted with a grin. "But more ready than I've ever been for anything in my whole life"

Kyla laughed. "I think I have to echo that sentiment. Is this what it was like to compete at Worlds?"

JJ shook her head with a giggle. "Worlds was scary but exciting, and this is on a whole new level"

Before too long, the warmup was over, and Gabby was left alone on the podium as she prepared to start the team final. The four remaining team members on the sidelines watched on as she saluted the judges and took off down the runway with no messing about.

A flip onto the table, two and a half twists through the air, put beautifully to her feet to rapturous applause.

"Good job!" McKayla said happily aas Gabby hopped off the podium to join her teammates. Up the other end, Aly had ascended to await her turn.

After getting quick hugs and encouragement from the other girls, Gabby headed over to her bag to start getting her grips on for the next rotation. JJ and Kyla turned to start doing the same, having wanted to wait until the competition began before putting the grips on.

15.966 was Gabby's score, a strong start for Team USA.

Aly's vault went by with little fuss, receiving a solid 15.900 to get the ball really rolling ahead of McKayla's turn.

Less than ten minutes since the start of competition, and McKayla had saluted the judges, taken a step back, and launched down the runway in trademark fashion.

Her vault was so aesthetically perfect, with so much height, that the crowd gasped as she lifted from the table.

With a defiant thud, her feet hit the mat and she straightened up to present without so much as a hint of a shuffle. JJ and the girls went wild on the sidelines, pumping their fists into the air and cheering as McKayla ran from the podium, giddy with excitement.

"Good job Mac, that was amazing! That was so amazing!" Aly gushed as she hugged McKayla. "Perfect ten!"

JJ laughed as she reached out and hugged her friend. The nerves were slowly ebbing away, having seen her teammates put up strong starts to the competition.

She was more than ready for what the next two hours held.

* * *

Bars and beam had gone by so smoothly that the USA was leading into the final rotation with a crushing lead. Gabby had flown high on her release moves, Kyla had nailed all her landings, Aly had been cool and calm as usual, and JJ had defiantly punched each skill out onto the beam like it had wronged her in a past life.

Halfway through the last rotation, they were only forty points behind Russia, with the three Americans only needing to average 13.100 on floor to secure team gold. The cushion had relaxed them, knowing there was room for minor mistakes, but they remained as focused as ever; their job wasn't over yet.

Gabby and JJ had gone first, strong as ever, both posting over 15 points for their respective routines. JJ had finished hers with a wave of emotion, but she had pushed it down, knowing that Aly was still to go.

But while waiting for Aly's routine to start, JJ had chanced a glance up at the scoreboard and was met with a crushing tidal wave of excitement.

Aly only needed to score higher than 9.433 to ensure a win. Knowing Aly's track record on floor, JJ allowed herself a small celebratory grin.

Surely, they had done it.

"Representing the United States of America, Alexandra Raisman!"

Aly stepped up, saluting the judges as the crowd cheered her into her routine.

 _Hava Nagila_ filled the arena as Aly began her floor routine. Her opening pass, a round off to 1.5 stepout through to a double Arabian flip started strong, but she chose to omit the punch front from the end of the pass; their lead was secure, and now was not the time to risk a fall, especially as it had troubled her in warmup.

As soon as that one was over, she had turned to complete a double Arabian in the piked position, followed by a leap. The girls were rapturous on the sidelines; the hard bit was over. Aly could now fall on both her remaining passes and they could still slide in for the win, but they knew that she would remain strong right to the end.

After a section of dance, the music picked up and Aly was off again, this time into a triple twist, which she landed with zero issues. Another short section of dance took her to the adjacent corner, and then she was lined up for her final pass.

When she landed her double pike and rebounded into a strong leap, the four girls standing on the sidelines cheered wildly, for no matter how the routine finished, they had won gold.

As Aly struck her final pose amidst wild applause, her emotion was already clear, the tears running down her cheeks as she saluted the judges and quickly left the podium to rejoin her team.

"Oh my god, we did it!" she said tearfully as they formed a huddle, arms wrapped around each other as they allowed their excitement to wash over them.

"I love you girls. We did something amazing today, we went out there and did what we had to do and I love you. Thank you," Aly said breathlessly. They all hugged tightly, before walking over to stand beneath the big screen and wait for Aly's score. They stood hand in hand, lined up with their coaches behind them, waiting and waiting.

They knew they had it, but until the scores changed and it was up there in lights, they hardly dared to believe it.

Up in the stands, Sandy and Michael were gripping each other's hands deathly tight. A few rows in front of them, they could see Lynn and Rick Raisman doing the same thing, and the magnitude of the moment washed over them. They were about to witness their daughter become an Olympic Champion, and they would share that moment with a couple just a few rows away. It seemed bizarre that with the capacity of the arena and the fact that they had all booked their tickets separately, the parents of the two oldest members of the team had ended up so close together.

They could see JJ clearly on the floor, and it was surprising to see how much more confident she had become, even in the course of the last couple of hours. Sandy had practically sensed her daughter's nerves from the moment they had marched in, but now, she was radiating happiness and relaxation.

It felt like forever, but was likely only a few minutes, but finally, Aly's score went up and the team totals changed.

 **WOMEN'S TEAM FINAL**

 **1 - UNITED STATES - 184.397  
2 - RUSSIA - 178.530 - 5.867  
3 - ROMANIA - 176.414 - 7.933  
4 - CHINA - 174.430 - 9.967  
5 - CANADA - 170.806 - 13.591  
6 - GREAT BRITAIN - 170.495 - 13.902  
7 - ITALY - 167.930 - 16.467  
8 - JAPAN - 166.646 - 17.751**

They had done it, and by astonishingly, almost six points. The first women's team since 1996 to win Olympic team gold.

Tears were shed all around as they celebrated their win with their coaches, with the crowd cheering and with Katy Perry's _Firework_ playing throughout the arena.

That morning, they had been nothing more than USA Olympians.

Tonight, they were Olympic champions.

* * *

It was an indescribable feeling as JJ leaned forward to allow the elderly IOC member to place the beautiful gold medal around her neck. The weight of it was immediate, almost a physical representation of how much her life had gone into getting to this prize.

She shook his hand with a beaming smile as the crown rincess of Abu Dhabi, also an IOC member, stepped forward to present her with a small bouquet of flowers.

"Congratulations," she said with a thick accent.

"Thank you," JJ replied, unable to wipe the smile from her face.

In the stands, Sandy and Michael were on their feet, Jason beside them clicking away on his camera. They could hardly believe what they were watching; their baby girl, their baby girl whom they had made so many sacrifices for, finally receiving the prize she had worked her entire life for.

Once Kyla had received her medal, the music died down and the girls turned to their right, hands over their heart as _The Star Spangled Banner_ began to play and the three medalling flags began to rise. There was so much pride in each and every girl on the stand. Here they were, representing their country at the highest level of sport, and they had achieved no less than gold.

It was a night JJ knew she was never going to forget. Her first Olympic medal, and it was gold, and she had done with some of her closest friends and teammates at her side.

Her first…and hopefully not her last.

* * *

 **Skill Guide:**

 _1.5 step out –_ from a roundoff, the gymnast punches into a back layout. They twist one and a half times in the air and land with one foot prepared to continue straight into a roundoff. Commonly paired with a double back tuck or a twisting layout flip.

 _Triple twist –_ after a roundoff backhandspring, the gymnast punches into a back layout, completing three revolutions in the air and landing facing the direction they came from.

 _Double pike –_ a double back flip in the piked position, that is to say, with a bend in the hips. If the gymnast has a hip angle of less than 180 degrees, it is considered piked. The legs are kept straight.


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: I know you all want updates for other stories, I promise I am working on them. I'm just on a roll with this right now, and I don't want to stamp down my current gymnastics passion just to work on other fics, because that's what I did in 2012 after the Olympics and that resulted in me not really caring about the sport between 2013 and 2015. So I promise they're in the works, I just want to work on this right now while the motivation is there.**

* * *

Warm sunlight filtered through the windows of the athletes' village, slowly rousing JJ from a peaceful sleep.

As her mind lifted from a slumber, JJ kept her eyes closed, a smile playing around her lips as she remembered the dream she'd been having. It had been the most amazing dream she'd ever had, so vivid that it felt like it had set her heart on fire. She was more than just a little sad that she had to wake up, but surely, she and the girls could make that dream a reality very soon.

Rolling onto her stomach, she slid her hands beneath her pillow as she attempted to savour what was left of her sleepy state.

When her hand slid over a hard metallic disc, she bolted upright, pulling the object out from under her pillow as Aly, who was lying in her bed off to the left, started to laugh.

"The look on your face," she teased as JJ held her gold medal with an ecstatic grin on her face.

"Aly, I honestly thought I'd dreamt last night," JJ replied, poring over the gold medal once more as the memories from the previous evening came rushing back. She'd hardly dared to believe it was true.

"I can't believe we did it Jayje," Aly said softly, her smile growing as she took her own medal from the drawer in her nightstand. "How many years have we dreamed about this?"

JJ shook her head as she set the medal down on her pillow. "Too many to count"

They fell into silence, JJ's gaze falling back to the beautiful gold medal sitting before her. For years and years, she had idolised those who had come before her; Shannon Miller, Carly Patterson, and Nastia Liukin. She had wanted to reach the pinnacle of gymnastics just as they had done, and have the gold medal to prove it.

And now she had one. A real Olympic gold medal, all her own, to make all those years of training absolutely worth it.

* * *

After a training session in the morning, the girls had a few hours to spare until their second training session in the afternoon. It had been pre-organised a few days earlier that they would spend that free time with their families, and now that they had won gold, that plan was even better, as they would be able to celebrate.

So they had taken the village shuttle leaving the athletes village and headed to the Team USA hub. It was the centre of activity for all Team USA Olympians, where they could see their families, and where all their interviews outside of the competition arena were held.

As they were getting off the bus, JJ spotted her parents straight away, sitting with the Raismans in the café at the front of the building. A smile crossed her face as she zipped her Team USA jacket a little tighter, her medal tucked safely beneath it.

Having also noticed her parents, Aly bid goodbye to the others for the time being and then began to make her way over to the café, JJ at her side.

"There they are!" Sandy called excitedly as the two girls approached, turning the attention onto them. JJ broke into a huge smile, her pace quickening as she rounded the little fence at the front of the café and walked straight into her mother's arms.

"Hi sweetheart, how are you?" Sandy gushed as she held her youngest child in a tight hug.

"Good," JJ replied with a chuckle, before pulling away from her mom and turning to her dad as Aly also greeted her parents just a few feet away.

"So proud of you sweetheart, you were amazing yesterday, you were all amazing," Michael said happily, giving JJ a tight squeeze.

When they had all properly greeted each other, JJ and Aly joined their families at the table, seating themselves between their siblings and parents.

"Yesterday was pretty incredible, huh?" Rick said as everyone settled in.

"So incredible," Aly agreed, beaming from ear to ear. "We didn't want to believe we'd done it until the score for my floor routine was put up"

"I still didn't believe we'd done it when I woke up this morning," JJ added, making Aly laugh.

"She honestly thought she'd dreamt it and when she felt the medal under her pillow… I wish I'd had a photo, the look on her face was priceless," she giggled. The others at the table laughed as JJ's cheeks turned pink amongst her smile.

"I brought it with me," JJ said softly, unzipping her jacket and lifting the precious object from around her neck. She held it towards her parents with a smile. "Here"

Her mother took it almost gingerly, as if she were afraid to drop it, while across the table, Aly was showing hers to her younger brother and sisters.

"Bet you're pretty happy with that, hey Jen?" Michael said warmly.

JJ beamed. "It's something I've wanted for years, I still can't believe it's actually physically in front of me to have forever"

Leaning across, Michael kissed his daughter's forehead.

"We're so proud of you Jaybird. So proud"

* * *

"Tomorrow is all-around final. You are both look very strong and ready for this challenge"

Gabby and JJ stood side by side, eyes fixed on Marta as the other three girls went through conditioning on the other side of the floor.

"Do not overdo it in the final," Marta said firmly. "Do the routines you have trained and prepared. I know Olympic all-around title is to be very enticing, but it is not worth risking injury for bigger less prepared skills"

"Yes Marta," Gabby and JJ replied in unison.

"You are well prepared. Tomorrow, you do good gymnastics, but also is good to remember to have fun," Marta added with a smile. "Go and work hard today to reap rewards tomorrow"

With a ceremonial little pat to each of their cheeks, she walked away to the corner of the training hall to oversee the training session as a whole.

As she stood chalking her grips to prepare to train bars, JJ fought back a smile.

She knew that in order for her to win the Olympic title tomorrow, both Gabby and Viktoria Komova would have to have falls. But there was no reason to believe she didn't have a good chance at bronze, maybe even silver if she did her absolute best.

But she pushed it out of her mind. There were a good four or five girls who she supposed were stronger in the all-around than she was. It was better not to get her hopes up. Her absolute goals were to finish in the top eight.

So today, she would work hard, and tomorrow, she would reap the rewards.


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: This one's a big one!**

* * *

The morning of the all-around had started with a light breakfast, followed by a three hour training session with Nicholas, Gabby's coach Liang Chow, and Marta, while the other girls trained under Mihai's direction.

Now, JJ was resting in her room, taking some much needed downtime to mentally prepare for the evening final. Aly was out on the balcony, taking in the view as she chatted to some of her friends back home on FaceTime.

As she was changing the channel to find something to watch, JJ heard her phone buzz distinctively against her nightstand. Picking it up, she immediately noticed the familiar name on the caller ID.

"Hey you," she answered with a smile.

" _Hey yourself,"_ came the cheeky Southern drawl of her lifelong best friend, William LaMontagne Jr. He was the first person she'd spoken to outside her family and team since… well, probably Nationals.

"What are you doing calling me, this is going to cost you a fortune," JJ chuckled.

" _Well, I've hardly heard from you since you competed at Trials… thought I'd take a chance and check in, and hey presto, you answered!"_ Will replied animatedly. _"Besides, I don't care if it costs a fortune… I've missed talking to you"_

JJ smiled. Deep down, however, she felt a little bad. What Will had said was true; the Olympics had taken such a central focus that she had honestly forgotten to check in with her friends from time to time. She was lucky to have a friend like Will, who she had known since elementary school, who understood what her life was like and understood she didn't always have time to talk or hang out, but it didn't stop the feeling of guilt drifting in.

" _Saw you guys in the team final the other night. You were amazin'. How does it feel to be an Olympic champion?"_

"Amazing. It really is a dream come true. But I can't really stop to celebrate it just yet, I've still got four finals left," JJ replied.

" _You've got one today, haven't you?"_

"Yeah, the all-around"

" _My dad's lettin' me take the day off to watch it live"_

"Will, you don't have to do that!" JJ laughed. "You should probably go to school"

" _My best friend is competin' in the Olympic Games, like hell I'm goin' to school"_

JJ laughed. "What if I completely bomb out?"

" _I'll cheer even louder, because nothing says brave as hell like falling on your face in a leotard in front of a thousand people"_

Whereas the same comment from anyone else would have made her incredibly nervous, coming from Will, it only made JJ laugh even more.

" _Are those leotards as uncomfortable as they look?"_

"Not really," JJ chuckled. "But I'm probably just used to them"

" _Yeah, probably, because having a bit of sparkly fabric wedged between my ass cheeks doesn't sound all that appealing to be completely honest"_

Laughing again, JJ shook her head at her friend's antics.

" _Anyway, I should probably let ya go, I've gotta do some of my homework and that if I'm not going today. I just wanted to check in. Good luck tonight"_

"Thanks Will," JJ said softly as Aly opened the door and came back into the room.

" _And hey… I know it's easier said than done, but don't be nervous. You're amazing, Jennifer Jareau, and you already have the Olympic gold to prove it"_

JJ felt her cheeks go pink as she smiled at Will's words. "I'll talk to you later"

" _I'm holding you to that"_

Chuckling once more, JJ bid goodbye, hanging up the phone as Aly gave her a teasing grin.

"Who was that?"

"Will," JJ replied, flopping back on her bed.

"'Best friend' Will? The one who always makes you blush?" Aly teased.

"Shut up," JJ groaned, making Aly laugh.

"He's the cute one that came to watch you at Nationals last year, right?"

"Aly, I swear to god," JJ laughed, throwing her pillow towards her team mate.

"You know I'm only messing with you," Aly replied with a grin, sitting down on the end of her own bed.

"He made me realise how little attention I've paid to everything but the Olympics this year. I feel kinda bad, but he doesn't seem to mind," JJ admitted.

"Hey, if you've got a friend who understands how crazy this life is, keep them," Aly said seriously. "They're the ones who'll still be there when all this is over"

Smiling, JJ nodded.

Once the Olympics were over, she would make it up to Will. God knows he deserved it.

* * *

The all-around was well and truly underway. Vault and bars had gone nothing but smoothly for both of the American girls, and at the halfway point, JJ was sitting in third behind Gabby, and Viktoria Komova. Not that she knew that; she avoided looking at the scores. If she knew where she was in the standings, the pressure would mount.

Both their vaults had gone as well as they could have hoped. JJ's double twisting Yurchenko had only taken a few deductions for leg form and a hip angle on landing. Gabby had nearly hopped outside the boundary lines on her Amanar, but had fought tooth and nail to keep it in line.

Bars, which was often touted as JJ's weakest event, even though she was reasonably strong there, had also gone well. JJ had hit all her connections and kept her form in the back of her mind. When she had nailed the dismount, she had smiled from ear to ear, knowing her two 'worst' events were over and done with.

Gabby had soared high through her routine, showing everyone in the arena why she was called the Flying Squirrel. She had also nailed her double layout flyaway dismount, her smile reaching every corner of the arena as she saluted the judges.

JJ had kept her eyes on the ground during the five beam routines before hers. It was easier for her to compete without knowing how everyone before her had gone. The noise in the arena was a welcome distraction, between floor music, cheering, announcements… it was all the white noise that helped her focus.

She had heard the rise and fall of the noise that indicated someone had fallen. It was seconds before she ascended the podium that she happened to see Aliya Mustafina's score for her beam routine, and realised that the young Russian must have fallen from the beam during the exercise.

She chalked up quickly, focusing on nothing but the skills before her. A small smile cracked through when she heard Aly's voice ring out like a bell from the crowd.

"Come on JJ, you got it!"

She moved to her starting point, watching the screen on the opposite side to know when to go. It didn't take too long before the stop sign turned green, and her 30 seconds to mount the apparatus began.

" _On beam, representing the United States of America, Jennifer Jareau!"_

Saluting, JJ turned her body towards the end of the beam, taking a deep breath before starting her run towards the springboard.

Punch off the springboard into a front tuck mount. She let out a tiny sigh of relief when her feet hit the beam solidly and she straightened up immediately. For her, the hardest part was over.

Two and a half spins turned her back towards the end of the beam, ready for her acrobatic series.

Flip, flip, full twisting layout, done to rapturous applause. A few small dance elements carried her into her leap series, a switch split into a switch half, followed by a back tuck. More applause.

Front aerial, front aerial, Onodi. Her flight series requirement was filled. Taking two powered steps, she propelled herself up into a beautiful switch ring leap, her head thrown all the way back meaning she momentarily lost sight of the beam. After that, a side aerial to fulfil the tumbling in different directions requirement.

Some more dance elements low to the beam, and then she was readied for her dismount. The buzzer went off, indicating she had ten seconds left to dismount the beam.

Flip, flip, full twisting double tuck, put perfectly to her feet as the crowd went wild. Nicholas wrapped her in a tight hug as she stepped down from the podium, her smile so wide it was almost infectious.

"That was the best I've seen you do it kiddo! Of course, there's still some small things we can fix, but overall, really good routine, good job," Nick gushed.

A little breathless, JJ nodded, taking a sip of water before grabbing her bag and getting ready to move around to floor.

One more piece to go.

* * *

With her beam earning a massive 15.766, the standings were cemented as Gabby in first, Viktoria in second, and JJ in third as they came into floor.

Gabby's routine had been electric, the crowd clapping and cheering along as she danced and smiled her way through the energising exercise, eventually earning herself a 15.033 to keep herself in the lead.

JJ stood on the edge of the floor, waiting for her green light to go. She took a deep breath, rolling her toes into the floor to stretch her feet as she waited.

" _On floor, representing the United States of America… Jennifer Jareau!"_

Saluting the judges, she stepped onto the soft carpet of the floor, readying herself in her starting pose.

Moments later, the sounds of her music filled the arena. Her chosen music was a cut from the theme of _Dead Silence_ , a piece which allowed her to really adopt a character for the routine and indulge in the artistry.

With the slow tinkly chimes at the start, she danced almost robotically out of her starting pose into the corner, taking off into her first tumbling run, the two whipbacks into a double Arabian. The landing was nearly perfect, allowing her to rebound into a high stag leap.

Immediately, she moved back into the corner with a flourish, taking off straightaway into what she was sure was the best triple full she had ever done.

Now it was time to perfect the dance steps. She was capable of executing a triple spin, but only if she kept her hips and shoulders in line.

So off she spun, having to fight the smile from her face when she stepped down from the turn without so much as a wobble. Some more choreography carried her into the adjacent corner, before she took off into her full in double tuck.

Now nothing but a leap series and a double pike stood between her and a medal.

So as the music built up to the crescendo, she hit her switch ring into switch leap, before taking a deep breath as she stood in the corner one last time.

And the double pike was the best it had ever been, with only one hop on the landing before she struck her final pose to applause and cheers.

She was smiling, her eyes filled with tears as she stepped down and walked straight into Nick's arms.

"Great, great routine. I think the possibility of an all-around medal lit a little fire underneath you," Nick chuckled. "Can you imagine that there's a medal of this calibre on the line every time you do it from now on?"

JJ had to laugh, pulling back so she could finally look up at the scoreboard. She hadn't seen any of her scores throughout the day, but now that her competition was over, she wanted to know.

"You got a 15.433 on bars, which is really good for you… but you and I both know it can be even stronger. People have spent years saying you're weak on bars, and I want you to stop believing that, because you've proved them wrong twice in the past two days. But that aside… you got 15.766 for your beam routine," Nick said.

"What?" JJ asked in disbelief, a grin crossing her face. "I thought it was good, but not _that_ good!"

Nick laughed. "Yep, it was a stunner for sure"

Minutes later, her floor score was up; 15.133. She was in second behind Gabby with only Viktoria left to go, meaning no matter what happened, she was going to win a medal.

"I'm so proud of you kid," he said warmly. "This whole year, the all-around attention has been on Gabby and Jordyn, even Aly, but you've soldiered on, and look at you now. You're gonna be an Olympic all-around medallist"

Wiping away tears of joy, JJ pulled away from Nick, turning to embrace Gabby, who was smiling from ear to ear.

"No matter how Viktoria does, we'll be on the podium together," Gabby said happily. JJ managed a laugh, hugging her teammate once more before they stepped back to watch the Russian gymnast's routine.

The sounds of Amy Winehouse filled the arena, and off Viktoria went. Her first tumbling run, a 1.5 stepout into a double Arabian, was finished with a beautiful landing. Every movement she made was perfect and precise, and it was clear she was putting every ounce of energy and perfection she had into this routine in her last attempt to claim the coveted all-around title.

Three more beautiful landings followed and when she finished the routine with the lasting impression of a stuck double pike, she was smiling for the first time all day.

The ruckus died down and the arena went deathly silent as they waited for Viktoria's score to come up. Had she done enough? Had she done enough to pass Gabby and be Olympic all-around champion?

The scores changed and the arena went wild.

Because 15.100 was Viktoria's score, slotting her into second place between the two Americans.

 **WOMEN'S ALL-AROUND FINAL**

 **1 - DOUGLAS G. - USA - 62.232  
2 - KOMOVA V. - RUS - 61.973  
3 - JAREAU J. - USA - 60.275  
4 - MUSTAFINA A. - RUS - 59.566  
5 - IZBASA S. - ROU - 58.833  
6 - DENG LINLIN - CHN - 58.399  
7 - HUANG QIUSHUANG - CHN - 58.115  
8 - FERRARI V. - ITA - 57.999  
9 - IORDACHE L. - ROU - 57.965  
10 - SEITZ E. - GER - 57.365  
11 - TERAMOTO A. - JPN - 57.332  
12 - VAN GERNER C. - NED - 57.226  
13 - TUNNEY R. - GBR - 56.392  
14 - STEINGRUBER G. - SUI - 56.148  
15 - LITTLE E. - AUS - 55.765  
16 - TANAKA R. - JPN - 55.632  
17 - PEGG D. - CAN - 55.565  
18 - LOPEZ J. - VEN - 55.500  
19 - PIHAN-KULESZA M. - POL - 55.465  
20 - BRENNAN A. - AUS - 55.332  
21 - FERLITO C. - ITA - 55.098  
22 - GOMEZ A.S. - GUA - 54.899  
23 - MALAUSSENA A. - FRA - 50.166  
24 - WHELAN H. - GBR - 41.999**

Viktoria dissolved into a mess of tears, comforted by Aliya and her coaches as Gabby, choked up with emotion, climbed up onto the vault podium to wave to the cheering crowd. JJ was ecstatic; she'd known her own chances for all-around gold were considerably slim unless both Gabby and Viktoria had major errors, so to take home the bronze was more than enough for her.

"Get up here with me," Gabby called out, reaching out and beckoning for JJ to join her. JJ wasted no time, hopping up beside her friend as they waved together to the crowd before hugging each other tightly again. For the second time in history, two Americans had made it to the all-around podium.

Sandy and Michael were on their feet, their smiles bright and infectious. Two medals in three days; despite everyone saying JJ wasn't a strong all-arounder, despite all the focus being on Jordyn Wieber, Gabby Douglas, and Aly Raisman, JJ was proving everyone wrong and making a name for herself, all her own.

And they couldn't have been any prouder.

* * *

" _Winner of the bronze medal, representing the United States of America… Jennifer Jareau!"_

Waving to the crowd as she stepped up onto the podium, JJ was filled with an incredible sense of pride. It only elevated as the lady who was presenting the medals shook her hand before slipping the bronze medal over her head. Then came Nellie Kim, a former Soviet Olympic champion gymnast, now the head of the Women's Technical Committee, to give her the bunch of flowers.

As Viktoria and Gabby were presented with their medals, JJ couldn't help admire her own bronze medal. Yes, it wasn't a gold, but to her, it meant just as much. It was part of the Olympic experience.

JJ knew that after tonight, her best chance for individual gold was on the balance beam. And when that opportunity came, she was going to take it.

* * *

The media were swamping Gabby and Viktoria, wanting to hear their thoughts on how they performed. JJ couldn't help but feel a little bit sad for Viktoria, as happy as she was for Gabby; she knew Viktoria had wanted an all-around gold more than anything, and the poor girl looked so sad with her silver medal that she had even taken it off shortly after the ceremony.

"Hi Jennifer, do you mind if I ask you a couple of questions?" came an Australian accent out of the thicket of reporters. JJ turned, smiling at the young man who had approached her with his iPhone and a notebook.

"Sure," she said sweetly. "And, I usually go by JJ"

The man grinned. "I'll remember that. I'm Mitchell Hagan, I work for a website called Gym-nice-tics and we're based in Australia"

JJ grinned. "Cool name"

Mitchell chuckled. "We think so. I was wondering if you were expecting to get a medal today, and how do you feel having won bronze?"

"It feels amazing to have won bronze, I mean, it's the Olympic Games, to finish top three is incredible. Especially because, no, I wasn't expecting a medal today. I mean, I knew that I had a reasonable chance at silver or bronze, but I never come into a competition expecting a medal at the end. When we walk in to start a competition, we're all the same. We all start from zero and we have to go out there and prove to the judges that we deserve the prize, so it's nice to have been rewarded for that hard work"

"People say you're not a strong all-arounder, why do you think that is?"

"My vault starts seven tenths lower than the vault Gabby and Viktoria were doing, which is something I hope to improve on in the future. But also my bars as well. I mean, I have a 6.5 start value, and usually score above 15, but my score range fluctuates pretty wildly between 15 and… 15.5 is probably the highest I've had with this routine, so people say I'm not as consistent on bars as I could be. Which is true, the reason I do have a big range is there's a few iffy connections in my routines, but my coach and I are working on those"

"Are you planning on continuing gymnastics after the Games?"

JJ smiled. "I think so. I'm only eighteen, so there's probably few more years left in me. I absolutely love gymnastics, and I've loved these past few days competing at the Olympics, so regardless of how my remaining finals go, I think I'll come back sometime next year after a bit of a break. I think I've earned one"

Mitchell laughed, ending the recording on his phone. "Thanks JJ. Good job tonight, you performed really well"

"Thank you," JJ replied with a smile as Mitchell joined the throng of reporters moving to speak to Gabby.

"You spoke well," Nick said warmly as he approached JJ.

"He asked me good questions," JJ replied with a grin. "So that's always helpful"

Nick chuckled, passing JJ her bag as they began to walk away from the media zone to the athlete's exit.

Clutching the medal around her neck, JJ was beaming from ear to ear. She had cemented her place as the third best all-arounder in the world.

Now, she had a few days before event finals to recuperate and allow her double Olympic medallist status to sink in.

And of course, have a little time to celebrate.

* * *

 **Skill Guide:**

 _Double layout flyaway dismount –_ from a backwards giant (the swing around the uneven bars; even though the gymnast is facing forwards, it is named a backwards giant because if the gymnast releases the bar, her body flips backwards through the air), the gymnast releases the bar, keeping her body stretched, and completes two laid out flips before landing on her feet.

 _Onodi –_ from standing, a gymnast leaps backwards as if she is going to do a backflip, but does a half twist before her hands touch the beam. From there, she does a front walkover.

* * *

 **Real Life Placings:**

In the 2012 Olympic all-around final, Gabrielle Douglas and Viktoria Komova took gold and silver as they did in this semi-fictional world. The real-life bronze medallist was Viktoria's teammate, Aliya Mustafina of Russia with her 59.566. However, Mustafina tied with the second American in the final, Alexandra Raisman. Because ties are not awarded in gymnastics at the Olympic Games, the tie had to be broken; this was done by dropping the **lowest** scoring event from each gymnast's four scores - Aly Raisman's bars, and Aliya Mustafina's beam. Going off the three highest scores, Aliya won the tie.

I personally think it is a stupid way to break the tie; in an all-around final, you are judged across all four events and awarded medals accordingly. By awarding Aliya a bronze medal based on her top three events rather than all four, they enabled her to not count a fall on beam, and basically made a statement that she is stronger than Aly, whereas Aly is overall a far more consistent gymnast. But I digress.


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: On a roll!**

 **I've decided to include the real results from each final beneath each chapter. Feel free to flick back to Chapter 10 and review the addition I've made at the bottom.**

* * *

Friday was a rest day for the American girls, and for JJ and Gabby, it was a busy one indeed. The two were scheduled to do an interview with _The Today Show_ at the Team USA hub before being allowed to spend the day with their families. The other three girls had already left with their parents, while Nicholas, Chow, and Marta escorted JJ and Gabby to the hub.

Initially, they had been going to train as usual. But seeing the results the girls had achieved already, Marta had reasoned that one day off wouldn't hurt, and would in fact, be beneficial in the overall scheme of the Games. The last thing she wanted, especially for JJ who still had three finals left, was for any of the girls to burn out.

Each wearing their all-around medals, the two girls had been ushered through the building, given a rundown of how the interview was going to work, and then introduced to Bob Costas, the host of the segment.

Sitting beside Gabby on the sleek but comfortable white couch, JJ was beaming from ear to ear as the cameraman counted them onto air.

"Good morning, I'm Bob Costas, and I'm coming to you from London, England. The Olympic Games are well and truly underway, we'll bring you some of the latest results a little further on, but right now, I am here with two of Team USA's stars, Gabrielle Douglas and Jennifer Jareau. Last night at the North Greenwich Arena, these two young ladies took medals in the most coveted final in all of gymnastics. Welcome ladies!" Bob said cheerily.

"Hi," Gabby and JJ said in unison, both a little giggly as they spoke.

"First off… congratulations on a spectacular performance last night, you both performed so beautifully, I'm sure you're very proud. Did either of you expect to win a medal?" Bob asked.

Looking at each other, JJ motioned for Gabby to go first.

"I don't think we went in expecting a medal, because if you go in with high expectations and then make a mistake, it's nothing but disappointment. I know for me personally, uh, I just wanted to go in and hit four for four, I knew I had the ability to make it big, I just had to keep calm and focused out there," Gabby replied animatedly. Bob smiled, before both of them looked to JJ.

"I wasn't expecting one at all. People seem to have it in their heads that I'm not a strong all-arounder, and when enough people say it, you start to think it. So I walked in there thinking that if I hit really well, I maybe had a chance at top eight, but here I am with a bronze medal," JJ said with a smile.

"That must do wonders for your confidence to have people telling you what you're apparently not good at," Bob said in disbelief.

JJ nodded. "Yeah. I think it's been noted that I'm the quietest member of this team, that I look a little less confident, and that's probably true. I do have moments of self-doubt, but this competition is really changing that. Twice, I've proved the 'weak all-arounder' theory wrong, and I have two medals to show for it. I feel more confident in myself and my gymnastics already"

"What's that moment up on the medal podium like? What was it like in the team final?" Bob asked with a smile.

"Amazing," Gabby said with a laugh. "It's the moment all your dreams come true"

"It's so emotional though. Up there with the girls, I wanted to bust out in tears, but I couldn't stop smiling to let it happen," JJ chuckled. Bob laughed.

"All five of you are America's sweethearts. The Fierce Five. And Gabby, you've now become the first African-American gymnast to win the all-around title, as well as the first American of any race to win both the team and all-around gold at the same Olympics. You've made yourself famous overnight," Bob chuckled. "Has that sunk in?"

"No, not yet," Gabby laughed. "I'm sure it will once the Games are over"

"You both have a couple more finals. Gabby, we'll see you on the uneven bars, and JJ, we'll see you on the uneven bars, balance beam, and floor exercise. How are you feeling in preparation for those finals?"

"Pretty good," JJ said with a grin. "We've done the hard work all year, now it's just about staying clean and consistent"

"You're the reigning world champion on beam, JJ, does that add some pressure?"

"A little, yes, it always does because you know there are people out there expecting you to win. But for me, beam is my favourite event, and I rarely feel fear up there, so I'm just going to go out and have fun with it"

"Always the way to go," Bob chuckled. "Well, that's unfortunately all the time we have left today, but I'll hopefully get you back here before the Games are done. Good luck in your remaining finals, ladies, and know you have the entire country at your back. Ladies and gentleman, Gabrielle Douglas and Jennifer Jareau!"

They smiled at the camera, remaining fixed in their seats until the signal was given to indicate the cameras had stopped rolling.

She normally hated the attention. But being here at the Olympics really was boosting JJ's confidence.

* * *

" _Two medals! Watch out that you don't tip over when you wear them,_ " Will teased on the other end of the line as JJ flopped down onto her bed.

"Watch it LaMontagne, or I won't let you even lay eyes on them when I get home," JJ chuckled.

" _You will, don't tell lies,"_ Will laughed.

Giggling, JJ shook her head. Her friend was such a stirrer.

" _You were so good in the final. Like, I think that's the best gymnastics you've ever done. I'm actually really proud of you"_

Butterflies suddenly stirred in JJ's stomach.

"Thanks," she said softly, as Aly stepped out of the bathroom towelling her hair.

JJ ended the conversation shortly after that, knowing the call rate was extremely high, setting her phone down and staring up at the ceiling in thought.

Will had never really given her butterflies before. He'd always just been Will… just her best friend, the guy she knew would always be there throughout the craziness.

But now that she was away, competing in the biggest meet of her life… it felt different. He was still her biggest supporter, still her best friend…. but was he also something more?

Taking a deep breath, JJ closed her eyes and allowed a smile to cross her face.

She'd figure it out later. Right now, she had to focus on the Olympics.


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: Next chapter will be better!**

* * *

Day two of event finals had arrived.

Day one had not gone as smoothly as the American team had hoped. McKayla had been competing in vault finals, and had seemed an absolute shoo in to win, having gone in as the reigning world champion and top qualifier.

However, on her second vault, a Yurchenko half-on full twist, her feet had shot out beneath her on the landing, sending her straight down to the floor much to the dismay of her team mates in the stands.

Even with a fall, she had scraped a silver medal behind Romania's Sandra Izbasa and ahead of Russia's Maria Paseka, but she was incredibly disappointed in herself for the mistake. Upon arriving back to the rooms, she had burst into tears as soon as Aly pulled her into a hug.

However, day two was a new day. With McKayla feeling a little better come morning, it was now JJ and Gabby's turn to bring in some more hardware for the United States in the uneven bars final.

JJ knew she had the capability to medal, she just had to work hard on hitting all her connections and keeping her form tight and clean. The highest score she had ever received internationally with her current routine was a 15.700, but even she was aware of her tendency to fluctuate wildly on bars. But if she wanted a medal, that higher score was what she was going to have to aim for. Nothing but perfection.

And so she sat on the sidelines, drilling her memory on the ever important movements of the routine as the final carried out before her.

He Kexin, the reigning Olympic champion (however, very controversially; she had won a tiebreak over American Nastia Liukin in Beijing four years earlier, despite the fact that they had tied in almost every way possible), was holding a very solid lead with a 15.766. Her younger team mate, Yao Jinnan, had unfortunately fallen, taking a point deduction to end up with a score in the mid 14's and effectively ensuring she would not medal.

JJ would be the sixth gymnast to compete, with only Gabby and the German girl, Elisabeth Seitz, to go after her.

She remained completely focused as Aliya Mustafina clinched a lead with a massive 16.133, as Beth Tweddle competed a clean routine with a sizeable hop on the landing which put her into second place between He and Aliya. Viktoria Komova had competed earlier, but due to hitting the low bar with her foot as she dismounted, she had received a deduction that put her well out of the medals.

Now it was JJ's turn.

She couldn't go for gold. And she probably couldn't go for silver. Her difficulty was just not high enough to offset the average amount of deductions she normally received on bars. Bronze was only just within her reach, but she had to be the best she'd ever been.

After chalking up her grips while Nick chalked the bars, she stood in between them, ready to go.

Salute the judges. Deep breath.

Glide kip cast to handstand. Beautiful.

She was aware of Nick spotting her on the podium as she moved through each movement meticulously, making sure she hit each handstand, making sure she had enough momentum to prevent a dead hang on her transitions. Her releases were flighty and easy, and as she released into her double layout dismount, she was smiling from ear to ear.

No matter what score she got, she had given it the best she had and performed the best uneven bars routine of her life.

After saluting the judges amongst the applause, she punched the air before Nick pulled her into a tight hug.

"Oh kid, that was the best you've done!"

"Weak on bars, yeah right!" Michael exclaimed excitedly up in the stands as JJ hopped down from the podium and high fived Gabby, who was heading up for her own routine.

It didn't take long for her score to come up, and when it did, Nick's jaw dropped.

"Score for Jennifer Jareau, 15.786," the announcer called out.

"You're in third!" Nick cried, pulling JJ into a tight squeeze. Even if she was bumped out of the medals now, she would place at worst, fifth in an Olympic bar final. And that was a result that she knew she could not be upset with.

JJ's place became more secure as Gabby competed next; she watched as her team mate missed a pirouette and ended up facing the wrong way, having to pause and think quickly in handstand before continuing. Gabby's highest scores usually floated around the low to mid 15s and now, JJ knew she wouldn't pass her own score.

Next up with Elisabeth Seitz. Her routine was daring and exciting, but the form breaks were blatantly obvious.

And there it was, just minutes later, the final results.

 **WOMEN'S UNEVEN BARS FINAL  
RK  
1 - MUSTAFINA A. – RUS - 16.133  
2 - TWEDDLE B. –- GBR - 15.916  
3 - JAREAU J. –- USA - 15.786  
4 - HE KEXIN –- CHN - 15.766  
5 - KOMOVA V. –- RUS - 15.666  
6 - SEITZ E. –- GER - 15.266  
7 - YAO JINNAN –- CHN - 15.100  
8 - DOUGLAS G. - USA - 14.900**

Another bronze medal, on the apparatus that she was apparently weak on. JJ was beaming from ear to ear as she gathered her things to leave the competition floor.

Three medals, with her two strongest finals still to come.

The Olympics were certainly well in her favour.

* * *

Laying on her bed on her stomach that night, JJ had the three medals laid out before her, tracing the edge of the bronze she had won that day with her finger.

"You're cleaning up over there Jareau," Aly joked as she pushed her comforter down ready to slip beneath it. "We'll have to get you an extra seat just for all your medals"

JJ laughed, pushing herself up and starting to place the medals back in their protective boxes. "It's been an awesome competition so far. I'm still so surprised I got bronze in the all-around and on bars"

"Yeah, honestly, I don't think even Marta saw that coming," Aly snorted. "If you stick around next year, you're gonna be her favourite"

"I don't know about that," JJ laughed, closing all the boxes up and putting them back in her nightstand.

"You'll have another gold medal tomorrow for sure," Aly said with a nod.

"Well, we better get some rest so we can kick ass," JJ chuckled.

"Touche. I'm coming for you on beam Jareau," Aly teased as they flicked the lights off and slid under the covers.

"I'll push you off if you do," JJ replied with a giggle. The two girls laughed as they snuggled beneath the comforter, already slipping into a deep sleep.

* * *

 **Real Life Results**

Aliya Mustafina of Russia took gold with a 16.133. He Kexin, the reigning Olympic champion from 2008, took silver just behind her, while Beth Tweddle took Great Britain's first women's gymnastics medal, winning bronze with a 15.916.


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: Last day of finals!**

 **Don't worry, the story isn't over.**

* * *

The morning had started off well. JJ had spoken to her parents, and Will, before heading to the training hall with Aly to prepare for finals. Hearing their calm support had soothed the nerves that were starting to creep up on her.

She and Aly had decided to wear the boldest leotard of their Olympic kit in their finals that day; a sublimated USA flag design that made them truly stand out. Swarovski crystals emblazoned the design, making sure they would sparkle under the bright lights of the arena.

Now, the finals were underway. The whole arena was quiet as JJ stood up on the podium waiting for her green light.

Sui Lu had gone first off the bat and fallen from the beam on her acrobatic series. The rest of her routine had been absolutely breathtaking, but the tears and the eventual 14.500 told the whole story. She would not be taking home a medal for China today.

Now, it was JJ's turn to shine.

Closing her eyes for a moment, she took a deep breath. Upon opening her eyes, she noticed the green light indicating she was ready to go.

Saluting the judges, she put herself in position to mount, taking a calming breath before she started. And then, she leapt off her feet, taking a measured run towards the springboard.

Punch off the springboard into a front tuck mount. She was feeling so confident on her landing that she decided to immediately connect it into a wolf jump. Solid. Extra bonus points were the way to start.

Two and a half spins up on her toe turned her back towards the end of the beam, ready for her acrobatic series.

Flip, flip, full twisting layout, landed amongst impressed applause . A few small dance elements carried her into her leap series, a switch split into a switch half, followed by a standing Arabian. More applause.

Front aerial, front aerial, Onodi. Her flight series requirement was filled. Taking two powered steps, she propelled herself up into a beautiful switch ring leap, her head thrown all the way back meaning she momentarily lost sight of the beam. After that, a side aerial to fulfil the tumbling in different directions requirement.

Some more dance elements low to the beam, and then she was readied for her dismount. The buzzer went off, indicating she had ten seconds left to dismount the beam.

Flip, flip, full twisting double tuck, put perfectly to her feet as the crowd went wild. Her smile was wider than ever as she gave the crowd a wave and then hopped down from the podium, walking straight into Nick's outstretched arms.

"That looked incredible kiddo. Most incredible routine you've done at the Games. Nice addition with the wolf by the way," Nick said warmly.

"Thanks," JJ replied with a smile as Aly came up and gave her a tight hug.

It was a fairly long wait for her score, but when it came up, there was absolutely no surprise that she had landed in first ahead of Sui Lu, and by a landslide at that.

"15.866! That's a career best, and I think that's the highest score of the _quad_ on beam!" Nick cheered as the crowd applauded loudly.

JJ couldn't wipe the smile from her face as competitor after competitor went up on the apparatus. She watched as Deng Linlin posted a 15.600 with a beautiful routine, but not quite comparable to her own difficulty level. She watched as Larisa Iordache fell on her acrobatic series, effectively removing her from contention.

Finally, it was Aly's turn to go. JJ was still in first, and the American camp were fairly confident the gold medal was without a doubt hers. Aly was good on beam, but not 15.866 good. Deng Linlin was still holding second, followed by Catalina Ponor with a 15.066.

Aly's routine was solid as usual with only a few minor form breaks, and when she dismounted, JJ and Mihai were the first ones to her.

"That was so good Aly!" JJ said happily, hugging her friend tightly. Aly beamed from ear to ear, hugging JJ in return before hugging each Mihai and Nick.

It felt like an eternity until the moment when Aly's score came up, but when it did, the look on her face was nothing but crestfallen.

14.966. Just a tenth below Catalina.

"Mihai! Mihai! File an inquiry!" came two voices from the stands amidst the audience's applause for the score. "Her difficulty is not right!"

Without hesitation, Mihai raced off in search of an inquiry form, while JJ pulled Aly into a hug.

The inquiry was filed just over two minutes later, and then began the anxious wait to see if the inquiry would be accepted. It was a nervewracking wait, an anxious five minutes in an arena that seemed deathly silent.

They were lining up to leave the arena for the victory ceremony, of which it was now certain JJ would be the champion, when Aly's score finally changed.

"Yes!" Aly cried, throwing her arms around Mihai as her name moved into third place ahead of Catalina Ponor, however, with the same score, a 15.066. She had won the tiebreak based on her execution, and now, she and JJ would be on the podium together.

 **WOMEN'S BEAM FINAL  
RK  
1 - JAREAU J. - USA - 15.866  
2 - DENG LINLIN - CHN - 15.600  
3 - RAISMAN A. - USA - 15.066  
4 - PONOR C. - ROU - 15.066  
5 - AFANASYEVA K. – RUS - 14.583  
6 - SUI LU - CHN - 14.500  
7 - IORDACHE L. - ROU - 14.200  
8 - KOMOVA V. - RUS - 13.166 **

JJ was filled with pride. She finally had her individual glory, a gold medal that she had won all on her own. She would share the podium with Aly, one of her closest friends.

And they still had floor finals to come.

* * *

"Winner of the gold medal, and Olympic Champion! Representing the United States of America… Jennifer Jareau!"

Waving around to the arena, JJ walked around the podium and shook Aly's hand, accepting the hug her friend leaned down to give her, before crossing over to Deng and shaking her hand also. Beaming from ear to ear, she ascended to the topmost step of the podium. The IOC officials approached her, first placing the gold medal around her neck, then handing her a bouquet of flowers, each shaking her hand in turn.

The medal ceremony passed in a bit of a blur, but it was a moment JJ knew she wouldn't forget very quickly. Almost immediately after it was over and their photos were complete, the three girls were ushered back out to the foyer under the arena. Deng left straightaway with her coach, heading for the village shuttle, while JJ and Aly were led out to the warmup gym to join the other floor finalists in preparation while one of the men's finals carried on in the arena.

* * *

Her double pike glided easily around as she glued her feet down to the carpet in what was her last gymnastics skill of the London 2012 Olympic Games.

Finishing her routine, JJ found herself a little choked up as she saluted the judges and left the floor with a wave to the crowd.

It had been an incredible experience, and she was sad that it had to come to an end.

With the gold medal she had already won looming in the back of her mind as fuel, JJ had completed what was probably the best floor routine she'd ever done to earn a nice score of 15.300. She had truly embodied the character of the routine, and it was clear the crowd had enjoyed it, because their applause afterwards was completely uplifting.

Aly had gone out in exciting fashion, also performing the routine of a lifetime to score a massive 15.600, the highest floor score of the quad, and cement herself into the lead ahead of JJ.

By the time Sandra Izbasa had taken to the floor as the last competitor and taken an unfortunate fall on her last tumble, it was clear that Aly would be the champion, and JJ the silver medallist.

Aliya Mustafina was easily into third, however, she had been tied with the Italian girl, Vanessa Ferrari. Winning the tie on execution would award Mustafina the bronze medal. JJ had been secretly hoping that Lauren Mitchell, the Australian who was sitting less than a tenth behind Mustafina and Ferrari, would take a history making bronze, but unfortunately, it was not to be.

JJ was ecstatic that she had done enough to win her fifth Olympic medal, but part of her was sad that for her and Aly, the Olympics were over.

Sandra's score went up, and the final standings released to the scoreboard.

 **WOMEN'S FLOOR FINAL  
RK  
1 - RAISMAN A. - USA - 15.600  
2 - JAREAU J. - USA - 15.300  
3 - MUSTAFINA A. - RUS - 14.900  
4 - FERRARI V. - ITA - 14.900  
5 - MITCHELL L. - AUS - 14.833  
6 - PONOR C. - ROU - 14.766  
7 - AFANASYEVA K. - RUS - 14.566  
8 - IZBASA S. - ROU - 13.333 **

"We _are_ gonna have to get a seat for your medals," Aly laughed as she and JJ hugged. "I'm proud of you"

"Aly, you just won gold! I'm proud of _you_!" JJ replied with a chuckle.

"We finished up strong. Hopefully I can stand here with you in Rio and we can kill it there too," Aly replied softly.

"If you haven't put a hip out by then," JJ teased.

"Oh shush, I'll be pushing your wheelchair down the vault runway," Aly chuckled as they gathered their things and prepared to head out for their medal ceremony. Behind them, Nick laughed at the girls' banter, while Mihai just shook his head with a defeated grin.

And off they went, to receive two more medals to add to Team USA's total.

* * *

Aly's beam of pride had radiated around the arena as she waved to the crowd following the national anthem. Two gold medals and a bronze made her the second most decorated American gymnast of the Games; JJ was the first, with two golds, a silver, and two bronzes, a staggering and yet highly unexpected result for the underdog of Team USA.

It was as they were walking to the media zone that JJ started to feel a little unwell. She wasn't surprised; she'd been competing non-stop for the better part of a week, and it wasn't unusual for her to feel weak and rundown afterwards.

"Here you go," Nick said with a smile, slipping her beam gold around her neck to join the silver as Aly was pulled into a conversation with a journalist. "Wanna go and regale the media with your amazingness?"

JJ managed a weak grin, glancing over her shoulder towards Aly and Aliya. She didn't really feel like having cameras shoved in her face, but it was practically compulsory for them to speak to the media following competition.

"I don't feel very well," she said softly as she turned back to Nick.

"Why, what's wrong?" Nick asked, concerned.

"I don't know," JJ shrugged. "My stomach feels a little weird"

"You don't have to speak to them if you don't want to. We'll let them know you're feeling a little rundown, and we'll head out to the shuttle to wait for Aly," Nick suggested. JJ made no hesitation in nodding, wondering if a little fresh air between the North Greenwich Arena and the bus would help her relax a little.

She followed her coach as he spoke quickly to Mihai, before leading her out to the waiting area just prior to the shuttle exit.

Fifteen minutes later, Mihai, Aly, and Marta were rejoining them, and they all clambered into the bus, eager to get some real sleep, and in Aly and JJ's case, indulge in some serious food.

By the time the bus left, it was only the cohorts from Team USA, the Russian Federation, and the Australian team on board, meaning it was rather empty and mostly quiet aside from the music playing, and the soft conversations between Lauren Mitchell and her coaches.

"Nick, I think I'm gonna throw up," JJ groaned roughly ten minutes away from the arena. Deb, the team doctor, immediately produced a barf bag from somewhere within her backpack, passing it over the seatback as Aly jumped in and lifted JJ's medals up, taking them into the safety of her lap as she retook her seat.

And she inevitably did, putting the bag to good use between the arena and the village. Part of her wanted to be mortified that she was throwing up on an Olympic athlete shuttle bus, but the other part of her felt too crappy to care.

Arriving back in hers and Aly's room later on, a hot shower followed by some ginger tea before falling into her bed seemed to ease her stomach enough for her to fall asleep.

Her eyes were shut before her head hit the pillow.

* * *

"Don't worry, she's still alive"

Cracking her eyes open as hushed voices spoke somewhere near her, JJ rolled over beneath the covers. She knew it was Aly speaking, but there were other voices.

"Wins two more medals, throws up on the bus. Good finish to the Games"

That was definitely McKayla. JJ had to giggle as she rubbed her eyes and pushed herself up right as Aly walked into the room, followed by their team mates.

"Hey you, feeling any better?" Aly asked, sitting down on the end of JJ's bed. Gabby and McKayla made themselves similarly comfortable on Aly's bed, while Kyla chose the desk chair.

"Loads, actually. No idea what that was yesterday," JJ replied.

"A ceremonial spew to alleviate the pressure of the Olympic Games," Aly responded with zero hesitation, making all five girls burst out laughing.

"Oh, that's what it was," JJ choked out as she laughed.

Once they'd settled down, Aly smiled.

"We've had an amazing competition. I'm so proud of you girls. We've worked our whole lives to make it this far, and we did it, and we did it with a bang! I don't know what happens afterwards, but whatever it is… it'll be amazing, I'm sure of that"

No words were spoken as Kyla, Gabby and McKayla all got up, crossing the room and joining Aly and JJ in a team hug on JJ's bed. There were a few tears, a few laughs, and many loving hugs.

They would always be teammates. Even twenty years from now when they had all surely retired, they would always be the Fierce Five, the golden girls of Team USA. After the Olympics, when they returned to the States, they would part ways, some would continue on in their gymnastics career, and some would probably inevitably retire.

But no matter what, they were always going to be the Fierce Five.

* * *

 **Real Life Results**

 _Beam:  
_ Deng LinLin of China won the beam final with a 15.600, while her compatriot, Sui Lu, won with a 15.500. Aly Raisman took bronze in a stellar fashion; initially her score was 14.966. Bela Karolyi and Kathy Kelly yelled out from the stands for Mihai Brestyan, Aly's coach, to file an inquiry. An inquiry into a gymnast's score must be filed within four minutes of the score being posted, and for a $300 fee. If the inquiry is accepted and the score changed, the $300 is returned to the coach, otherwise, it is given to the FIG. Aly's inquiry was accepted and her score eventually changed to 15.066, tying her with Catalina Ponor. Unlike the AA tiebreak in which Aly lost out, this time, she was victorious, and took home the bronze medal over Ponor based on higher execution.

 _Floor:  
_ Aly Raisman took the gold medal with a 15.600. Catalina Ponor was just behind her with a 15.266 or something (I'm personally not a fan of Catalina Ponor as a gymnast or as a person, so I don't really bother with her), and Aliya Mustafina took bronze with a 14.900, making her the most decorated gymnast of the 2012 Olympic Games with a gold, a silver, and two bronze medals.


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: Smashed this out in like an hour.**

 **I promise I'll update my other fics ASAP, I'm just super motivated for this one right now!**

* * *

Newfound fame suited the Five well.

Over the remaining week of the Games, it had been a whirlwind of spending time with their families, going along to watch and support other members of the US Olympic team, seeing the sights of London, and being interviewed by an array of American and British talk shows.

JJ had done a few individual interviews, as had Gabby and Aly, as well as a photo shoot with all five of her medals. A second photo shoot had turned out to be a surprise shoot with Michael Phelps, which had rendered JJ completely shy and giggly for about ten minutes while Aly laughed in the corner.

Two days before the Closing Ceremony, JJ and Aly were having lunch in a little café with their mothers (both their fathers had returned to the States with their siblings in order to return to work) when JJ's phone rang.

Excusing herself from the conversation once she recognised her coach's phone number, she walked out onto the little cobblestone boardwalk area to take the call.

"Hey Nick"

" _Hey superstar, listen. How much longer are you going to be out with your mom?"_

"Not sure, we're just having lunch right now. We're pretty much in the middle of London, not far from the Eye"

" _I know you probably want to see a bit more of London, but is there any chance you can head back to the Village once you've finished your lunch? I just got a phone call from the US Olympic Committee, they want to speak to you at Team USA House as soon as possible"_

Raising her eyebrows, JJ made no hesitation in replying. "What do they want me for?"

" _No idea. I don't think it's anything bad, because if it was anything to do with your drug tests, it would be the IOC calling me. It's probably an interview or something, can you just let me know when you're headed back?"_

"Sure. I'll leave here soon"

" _Alright kiddo, see you soon"_

Ending the call, JJ walked back inside to find Aly regaling their mothers the tale of her getting sick after the floor final.

"And then she threw up on the bus," Aly laughed. "And we don't know why"

"Because I was out all night hitting the clubs with Jake Dalton, _obviously_ ," JJ replied dryly as she sat back down, getting a grin from her friend. "No, I think I was just run down. It happened last year at Worlds too, it was like six straight days of competing and then the day after the last competition, I spent it in bed feeling like death"

"Who was that on the phone?" Sandy asked as she set her coffee down.

"Nick. They want me back at Team USA House this afternoon, so I'm going to have to head back in the next fifteen minutes or so," JJ replied. "Hate to cut the day short, but apparently it sounds important"

"It's alright, we still have tomorrow," Sandy said warmly.

"I'll come back with you," Aly offered. "Marta would kill me if you got stabbed on a city bus. 'Aly, how you could let this happen, I was to turn JJ into wall plaque because she is _sooo_ amazing'"

JJ burst out laughing as Sandy and Lynn shook their heads.

"Alright crazies, you guys should head back, Sandy and I will get some sightseeing in for you," Lynn chuckled.

After the appropriate goodbye hugs were exchanged, JJ and Aly left the café, heading for the bus stand that would put them enroute back to the Olympic Village.

* * *

An hour later, JJ, Nick, and Steve Penny were walking into a conference room within Team USA House. A number of USOC members were seated within, and JJ suddenly felt very intimidated by the whole thing. Taking a deep breath, she forced herself to radiate the confidence that she knew had blossomed throughout the Olympics.

"Hi JJ, how are you?" asked an older looking man who was dressed more casually than some of the others, in a simple button up shirt and a pair of slacks.

"I'm ok. How are you?" she replied, her voice sounding stronger than she had anticipated.

The man smiled. "Oh, I can't complain. My name is Edward Redgrave, I'm one of Committee members for the USOC. I'm assuming no-one told you why we have you here?"

JJ shook her head.

"Well, JJ, we've been in discussion for a couple of days, and everyone in this room has come to an agreement," Edward started, taking a short pause before he spoke again. "We have chosen you, if you are so willing, to be the flagbearer for the United States of America during the Closing Ceremony on Sunday night"

JJ's jaw practically dropped as Nick's face lit up in amazement.

"Me?" she asked in disbelief, getting a chuckle from the room.

"You've demonstrated a wonderful level of success here in London, and not only that, you've embodied everything about the Olympic spirit that the USOC strives to achieve in all the athletes. Counting out the swimmers, or counting out Michael Phelps-"

Nick laughed, as did some of the other Committee members.

"-you are the most decorated member of the United States Olympic Team this year, and that is no small achievement. So what do you say?"

JJ exhaled slightly, smiling. She'd always been so proud to wear the USA symbol on her sleeve in international competition… to carry her country's flag would be an even greater honour.

"I'd be honoured," she replied happily, accepting Edward's extended hand in a warm handshake.

"Wonderful," Edward said warmly. "We'll get a few photos with you for our official announcement, and we'll be in touch about what will happen on Sunday. Congratulations, and well done"

* * *

"They found out about your drug habit, hey, they're gonna take all your medals away," Aly teased the very second JJ walked back through the door. All the girls were congregated in their room, watching some television shows in their downtime.

"You're such an ass sometimes," JJ laughed as she dropped down on her bed.

"In all seriousness, what did they want?" McKayla asked, pushing herself up from where she had been lying across Aly's bed.

JJ grinned.

"I'm carrying the flag in the Closing Ceremony"

The girls' faces lit up as the words sunk in.

"Oh my god, JJ! That's amazing!" Kyla gushed, moving from the chair she'd claimed to sit next to JJ on the bed.

"You've really made a name for yourself, wow!" Aly said excitedly. "This has been the best Olympics ever!"

And for JJ, it really had. She had made the most of the opportunity and experience she'd been given, as she knew all too well her chances of making the team again were slim to none. If London was all she ever got, she couldn't complain about that.


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N: Hey guys, the 2016 Profiler's Choice Awards have begun! Everyone should get involved! I'll post the link to the awards down below!**

 **Shameless plug here, but I'd love nothing more than for Fire In Our Hearts to make it to the final round of voting, it's such a fun story to work on, and you never know, it might pique a gymnastics interest in some people who've never thought about it before.**

 **Either way, please get involved, nominate and vote for your favourite stories and have fun!**

 **www .fanfiction topic /197180 /156102253/1/Profiler-s-Choice-Awards-2016**

 **Also, I know many of you are eagerly awaiting more of FMG and my other works, I am hoping to get back to that soon, but I just haven't been in the mood to write the heavier stories, hence why I've been sticking to this one. I've had a lot of computer dramas (it's currently in for its third repair for an issue that was caused by the first repair) that have been stressing me out so much, so right now it's just easier to write a lighter story that I can pour my love for gymnastics into. Once everything settles (if this repair doesn't fix it, the store is giving me a brand new one), I'll be back in the swing!**

* * *

The day had been a crazy rush. JJ had been taken away to the preparation meeting for the closing ceremony, before returning to the Village to pack away her things; the following day, they would transfer to a hotel for their remaining night in London. It happened to be the Sheraton, where both the Jareaus and the Raismans were staying, and so Aly and JJ would be rooming with their mothers.

Now, JJ was just minutes from carrying the flag of the United States of America into London's Olympic Park.

She couldn't hear what was being said in the stadium above the roar of the crowd, but moments later, the line of flags was beginning to move out into the Olympic Park. Music was blaring, people were cheering and clapping, and JJ knew it was going to be a poignant moment.

"Ladies and gentleman, now we welcome our delegation of athletes making up the Parade of Flags!"

JJ was right towards the end of the line, so it was quite a while before she finally reached the stadium entrance, but finally, she did.

She stepped out into blazing lights, an enthralled audience cheering ecstatically, and the entire Olympic spirit captured in one building.

Waving the flag of the United States of America as she walked, she was smiling so hard she felt like her face was going to crack.

Way up in the stands, Sandy was filming every moment of her daughter's shining day as flagbearer on her phone, wanting to be able to send it to Michael back home in the States.

Flags flew in the breeze rippling through the stadium, the music pounded through their hearts, and JJ couldn't stop smiling. This moment was filled with just as much pride as the two nights she had stood on the top of the Olympic podium. Carrying the flag meant just as much as winning gold, and JJ was so incredibly honoured that USOC and the athletes from the USA had chosen her for this privilege.

Before too long, the US flag was nestled in its holder, snugly between the flags of the United Arab Emirates and Uruguay, and the flag bearers were wandering off to join the Parade of Athletes, which had followed them into the stadium.

It took her a while, but JJ finally managed to locate her Fierce Five teammates. They excitedly took pictures of the entire scene, as well as some with other athletes (Tom Daley wanted a selfie with JJ, which made her feel incredible), before the theatrics died down to give way to the proceedings.

It was only an hour or so for the traditional proceedings to be carried out. Speeches were given, final awards presented, and then the Olympic flag was handed over to the mayor of Rio de Janeiro.

"I call upon the youth of the world who dream to be at the pinnacle of sporting endeavours, to convene in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in four years time for the next edition of the summer Olympic Games! As IOC President, I officially declare the Games of the 30th Olympiad, closed!"

The crowd cheered loudly as the mechanisms of the Olympic cauldron sprung to life, pulling the cauldron into its separate pieces and effectively extinguishing the Olympic flame.

Song and dance blared to life, a spectacular display of what Rio had to offer come 2016.

JJ watched, happy and a little lost, as the final memories of her Olympics played out before her.

In her mind, though, she had already made her decision.

She wasn't done. She wasn't going to be the gymnast who lasted one Olympic cycle.

Come hell or high water, she was going to Rio.


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N: I'm sad the Olympics are over!**

* * *

Their last day in London was spent seeing the sights and doing a little souvenir shopping. JJ was reluctant for the day to end. In the early hours of the following morning, she and the other members of the Fierce Five would rise and head to London's Heathrow Airport to board their flight back to the United States. As happy as she was to be heading home, part of her never wanted to leave London; leaving would mean the Olympics were well and truly over.

After spending the morning and a little of the early afternoon traipsing around central London with her mom, JJ was heading down to the dining room of the hotel to meet Nick. He had messaged her and said he wanted to talk before they got caught up in the media storm that would ensue when the Five landed in New York the following evening.

Spying him sitting in a corner with his lunch, JJ made her way over to him, smiling when he looked up.

"Hey kiddo. Had fun with your mom?" Nick asked as she approached, waving for her to sit down.

"Yeah," JJ said with a smile, taking the seat opposite him. "I feel like it was the first time in ages we've had a normal day together… I mean, I'm pretty sure the last time I actually spent real time with her was like… Christmas"

Nick chuckled. "Yep, that's the life of an Olympian"

"So what did you want to talk about?" JJ asked softly.

Pushing his plate away, Nick sat back in his chair. "I know you probably haven't given this much thought… but I wanted to get a vague idea of what your plans are for your gymnastics now that the Olympics are over. We won't get much time to talk when we get back home because you guys are going to be swept into a hurricane of media attention"

"I know I want to keep going," JJ replied. "I mean… I had the thought last night at the Closing Ceremony that, if I can make it that far… I want to have a shot at Rio"

Nick grinned. "Someone's been bitten by the Olympic bug"

"Something like that," JJ laughed.

"Well, if you're serious about making it all the way to 2016, we're going to have to devise a new training plan. Obviously, I'm not letting you back in the gym until probably the end of January; you have earned yourself a break, and I want you to take the time to relax and allow all those sore muscles to heal properly," Nick explained, getting a nod from JJ. "I know you've had an amazing Games and you're probably feeling the rush and want to jump back in, but I can guarantee you that if you don't take a break now, you're going to burn out by the end of the quad"

JJ nodded; she understood that. She also knew that there was no guarantee that she'd survive the rest of the quad, but she had to trust that Nick knew what he was doing.

"Sit down sometime in the New Year and make some goals for the quad. And promise me something JJ?"

Looking up at her longtime coach, JJ waited for him to continue.

"Gymnastics has to be fun. You're not going to make it to the Olympics again if you're not enjoying this sport. If you ever reach the point where you're not enjoying yourself anymore, I want you to tell me, don't just keep pushing yourself to breaking point and feeling miserable, ok?"

"I will," JJ agreed.

"You've given me an amazing experience here in London, JJ. I'm sure there's more to come. Thank you for trusting me to get you this far," Nick said softly as he stood up.

JJ jumped up, practically throwing her arms around her coach in a tight hug. There were no words she could say in that moment.

Nick understood her. He worked with her, and some days, he worked against her. Some days, she gave him absolute hell in the form of attitude and stubborn refusal. Other days, she took his every word as gospel.

There were not enough words in the world to describe the feelings of gratitude she had for the coach who had trained her since she first walked into a gym at age four. He had never had a gymnast make it to Worlds or the Olympics before, and so every experience was a new one for them.

She wouldn't have trusted anyone else to get her to the level she was at, and she would continue to solely entrust Nick with the task of training her as a gymnast.

It was the least she could do.


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N: Enjoy! And don't forget to nominate in the PCAs!**

* * *

A whirlwind.

That was all JJ could say to describe the storm of things that had happened when the Fierce Five had arrived home in the States on Tuesday night.

Crowds upon crowds of fans had turned out at JFK Airport to welcome them home, and they had, albeit tiredly, obliged to take photos and sign autographs for a number of excited little girls and teens alike. Gabby herself was a superstar, as the Olympic all-around champion, but JJ was just as popular, having brought home five medals for the USA.

The following days had seen them ringing the bell to open the stock exchange on Wall Street, climbing to the top of the Empire State Building, and having a number of photo shoots done, as well as an interview with The Today Show in Times Square. It was all a lot of fun to be doing it with the whole team, but JJ was finding herself wearing thin. She and Aly, who were still rooming together in the hotels, had found themselves getting a little snappy with each other.

From there, it was on to Washington DC to meet the President, which had all five girls in awe. President Obama had posed with McKayla to make the 'not impressed' face, which had brought a round of laughter into the room.

Then, it was onto LA and the Ellen Show, which was JJ's absolute favourite part of the entire post Olympic furor. Ellen was incredibly welcoming, and had asked each of the five girls some individual questions, as well as talking about their experience as a whole.

Finally, in the last week of August, JJ and Nick were stepping off the plane in Pennsylvania.

Walking out into the terminal after collecting her bags had been the biggest surprise of her life. What looked like hundreds of people had turned out to the airport to welcome her home, and she had walked out of the security checkpoint to an astounding cheer.

She recognised a number of the little girls from her gym, but at the very forefront of the crowd was her family and her few close friends.

And Will.

Breaking into a huge smile, she dropped her bags only a few feet away and made a beeline for them, throwing her arms around her dad as he gave her a tight squeeze.

"Ohh, welcome home princess," Michael said warmly, kissing JJ's cheek before she pulled away to hug her brother.

The next up to see her was Will, and JJ made no hesitation in also pulling him into a tight hug.

"I missed you and your craziness," Will said with a chuckle. "Life feels a little empty when your friend who likes to throw herself in the air for fun isn't around"

JJ laughed as she pulled back, looking up at him; he stood so much taller than her, and she'd never really realised it until now.

"Thanks for keeping me level headed. Not sure I would have done all this without your costly phone calls," JJ replied with a giggle.

"Does that mean at least one of those medals is mine?" Will joked as JJ started to move away to take photos with the little girls waiting to see her. JJ made no reply, instead just grinning in her friend's direction before kneeling down to talk to the awestruck little girls who were waiting at the front of the crowd.

Nearly two hours later, JJ was finally collapsing onto her bed for the first time since early July.

A few steps behind her was Will, carrying her backpack which he carefully placed in the corner of her room, knowing her medals were packed inside.

"Nice to be home?" he asked softly.

"I miss it… the Olympics. But at the same time, yes, it's really good to be home," JJ replied.

"You really were amazing in London, you know that?"

Smiling at his words, JJ pushed away the little flutter that arose in her belly as she got up from the bed.

"Want to see them?" she asked, already walking over to her bag.

Will just grinned. He watched as she opened up her bulging backpack, carefully pulling out five black boxes, all emblazoned with golden Olympic rings.

Setting them down on her bed, JJ opened up the one that she knew held her gold medal from the team final. Lifting it from the box, she placed it around Will's neck before opening up the other boxes so he could see the other medals.

"This is crazy," he laughed. "It's so heavy"

"Pretty much my first thought on the podium," JJ giggled.

"It's incredible," Will said softly, cradling the medal in his hand and examining every inch of it. "I'm holding a real Olympic gold medal"

JJ watched as he pored over it, and was just about to pick up another one when he stood up. He smiled as he lifted the purple ribbon over his head and transferred the medal to hang around JJ's neck once more.

"Where it should be," he said gently, his smile causing the butterflies in JJ's stomach to stir up again.

The world seemed to go silent around them, and JJ wasn't really sure what was happening. Lost in the exhilaration of the last few weeks of her life, she only realised when Will tipped her chin up that the gap between them was now almost non-existent.

And then his lips were on hers.

JJ's heart soared. Will was kissing her!

She wasn't sure how long they were together, but when a painfully sensible thought popped into her head, she slowly broke away, looking down at the floor as she tried to figure out what to do.

"Will," she breathed after what felt like an eternity, finally lifting her eyes to meet his. "This isn't a good time"

"I know, your parents are just downstairs, but… I couldn't resist, JJ. I've liked you for the longest time, and I've never had the courage to say or do anything about it until now. I guess absence really does make the heart grow fonder," Will said quickly, his words sounding a little more rushed.

"It's not that… Will, I go on tour in two weeks, and I'll be gone for almost two months… it's just not a good time for _this_ to happen," JJ replied, her voice barely above a whisper.

Seeing that JJ was feeling a little lost and overwhelmed, Will guided her to sit on the edge of her bed before taking a seat beside her.

"It's not as long as you think," he said softly.

JJ shrugged. "Either way… you'll probably meet some girl you like more while I'm gone. A girl who doesn't spend half her life in a gym covered in chalk"

Will shook his head, reaching over and taking her hand. "Jennifer Jareau… it's always been you. I _like_ who you are, and I like how passionate and determined you are. I don't want some random floozy… I want you"

"Two months Will," JJ reminded him, her voice almost pleading.

"I'll wait. I'll wait, and we can have that conversation when you're home again, or when you're ready to. Because I don't know how you feel, JJ, but you're absolutely worth waiting for. With or without your gold medals," Will replied, cracking a smile.

JJ finally smiled, mulling over his words in her head.

"Ok," she agreed. "If you're sure"

"I'm sure," Will replied. "As long as I can kiss you again"

JJ giggled, nodding as he leaned in and pressed his lips to hers once more. She couldn't help but feel like she was soaring as she draped her arms loosely around his neck.

What a perfect way to end her London 2012 story.


	18. Chapter 18

**A/N: Still no computer. Ugh!**

* * *

She'd been home for less than a week, and while the Olympic fervour had not yet died, being at home was far more relaxing than New York or LA had been.

In between sorting through her gear and repacking her bags for the Kellogg's Tour, JJ had finally managed to catch up with her friends in her downtime. It was a nice change from all the press, and it also kept her mind from drifting to what had happened between herself and Will when she got home.

Not that it was a bad thing. But she knew it would be easier to wait until after the tour was over to pursue anything, and keeping her mind away from their kiss stopped her from conjuring up wild dreams.

Today's activity was sure to keep her well and truly occupied.

With her Olympic backpack slung over her shoulder, she pushed on the double glass doors that led into the warehouse sized space, smiling when she spotted the array of familiar faces filling the room.

The last time she'd stepped foot in her gym, she had just made the Olympic team, but refused to bear the title of Olympian until she had her credentials and had completed her first routine of the Games.

"JJ!" came an excited shriek from across the gym. JJ turned, bursting out laughing as she watched one of the little nine year olds, Kate, practically hurdle the tumble trampoline to get to her older gym mate.

"Hey Katie Kat!" JJ said excitedly, setting her bag down seconds before Kate launched herself at her. Her little arms wrapped around JJ's midsection in a tight hug, filling JJ's heart with a warm, fuzzy feeling; it was nice to know the little kids had missed her.

"I watched you on the TV at the 'lympics, you were amazing, amazing, amazing!" Kate babbled excitedly, grabbing JJ's hand and tugging her out towards the gym floor where the other kids had now gathered with Nick. JJ just managed to grab her bag again as she was pulled along by the eager nine year old.

"Alright, everyone take a seat on the floor so JJ can tell us about the Olympics, and at the end, she might have a little surprise for you all," Nick called out. The kids wasted no time in hurrying to sit on the carpeted floor, their faces filled with excitement as JJ and Nick sat down on the low beam in front of them.

"Who's got a question for JJ?" Nick asked. Without hesitation, every hand shot into the air, making JJ laugh.

"Ok, Kate," she chuckled.

"Were you nervous?" Kate asked with a smile.

JJ nodded. "Definitely. I was at the Olympics! But after I competed the first day, I felt a lot better"

Nick gestured towards another little girl named Amelia.

"Which one was your favourite leotard? I liked the red one from the team final," Amelia said sweetly.

"I think that one was my favourite too," JJ said with a grin.

The questions continued for about twenty minutes, the kids lapping up every detail JJ shared from the Olympic Games, before they fell silent as she reached into her bag to pull out the medals.

The looks of wonder on their faces as the five medals were laid out before them made JJ's heart swell. The magnitude of her success had not quite yet hit her, but when she saw the little girls poring over every inch of the medals, it was slowly starting to become clear. The girls couldn't believe they were actually looking at and touching real Olympic medals.

After each little girl had either held or worn a medal, and Nick had taken a photo of JJ with the girls, the training resumed, while JJ and Nick walked back towards the gym reception area.

"I am going to see you back in here one day… right?" Nick asked quietly as JJ put her backpack back over her shoulder.

"Of course," JJ replied with a smile.

Nick grinned. "Good. Because next time you come back, there's going to be a surprise"

"Great," JJ said dryly. "If it's my face on a massive poster…"

Nick laughed, putting an arm around JJ's shoulders. "Ah, you'll just have to wait and see"

Pulling away from her coach, JJ headed for the door, turning at the last moment and giving her coach a comforting smile.

"I do promise I'll be back"

Nick nodded. "I know. Now go have fun on the tour, and I'll see you again soon"

Grinning, JJ waved once more as she turned and left the gym.

There was no way she wasn't going back.

* * *

" _How nice is it to be home?"_

"So good," JJ sighed. She was sprawled across her bed, FaceTiming Aly; it was the first time they'd spoken since they parted ways in LA.

" _I swear to god, I bought out the first McDonalds I saw on the way home from the airport"_

JJ burst out laughing. "My brother took me to the food court and he was like 'ok. Go nuts'. I've never eaten so much food in my life"

Aly started to laugh as well. _"I was eating a McFlurry and dipping the fries in it and my dad was like 'oh Aly honey, no'"_

"In Rick's defense, Aly, that's gross," JJ laughed.

" _Oh well. It feels kinda weird to be home now, after everything that's happened. It's almost weird to be normal, you know?"_

"Yeah," JJ said softly, picking at a loose thread on her duvet. "Will kissed me when I got home"

" _Like it's just so… hang on, WHAT?"_

Grinning, JJ looked straight at Aly's image on the screen. "You heard me"

" _Gorgeous Will from Nationals Will? CUTE WILL WHO CALLED YOU IN LONDON WILL?"_

JJ laughed, nodding. "That would be the one"

" _Oh my god… so are you like… a thing now? Oh my god, JJ, that's so exciting!"_

"We're not a thing. Not yet anyway. I told him I didn't want to start anything before the tour, it's just too long to be away"

" _Ugh, you're so painfully sensible"_

JJ laughed. "Thanks"

" _You better me give me every juicy detail on the tour bus_ "

"I promise I will"

" _Good. Or you might find yourself being pushed off a beam"_

"That threat again," JJ giggled.

" _I gotta go, my mom's calling for dinner, but I'll see you at rehearsals next week. I miss you!"_

"I miss you too Aly," JJ said with a smile. With a wave, she ended the call, flopping back on her bed as her happy heart soared.

She hadn't been entirely sure of how she felt about Will, or a relationship, even once they had kissed. But now, she was certain. After the tour was over, she wanted to see where things were going with them.

Life after the Games was shaping up to be exciting.


	19. Chapter 19

**A/N: I finally have my computer!**

 **Also I skipped the tour in detail because its very long and repetitive and also because I'm keen to get back into the gymnastics further on in the story.**

* * *

November arrived, and with it, the end of the Kellogg's Tour of Gymnastics Champions.

For JJ, it had been a complete whirlwind; she didn't think she'd had a proper night's sleep since the first show, but it had been completely worth it. She and the girls had joined forces with other elite US gymnasts across all disciplines, both current and former, to put on the performances of a lifetime. It wasn't the high level gymnastics they were all used to; the hardest tumbling JJ had done on beam and floor was a backflip layout and a double twist respectively. But it had been a long trail of incredible shows and meeting excited fans, and JJ felt it had truly helped her come out of her shell.

Aly and McKayla had unfortunately both suffered falls during one of the shows, leaving both with injuries. While Aly's were minor and she was able to return to the tour shortly after, McKayla had to pull out indefinitely, as it was discovered she had fractured her leg and would need surgery.

For now, the Olympic fervour had started to die off. The girls were still basically celebrities in their own right, but normality had returned in its own way. For JJ, nothing at home had really changed from how it was before, except for the five gleaming medals that now took front and centre on her display shelf in her room, and the conversation with Will that she knew was coming the next time she saw him.

From what she knew, only one of the girls from the Olympic team was still training; Kyla, with the goal of going to her first World Championships in the coming October. JJ was in no rush to go back; she also wanted to go to Worlds (secretly, she wanted to no longer be overshadowed by her teammates, and knew the next Worlds were her best chance), but there was plenty of time to enjoy a bit of a vacation before going back to the gym.

Laying across her bed, she was scrolling through her Twitter mentions, smiling at the comments that had accrued since she last looked at it. They built up so quickly that she barely had time to look at any of them regularly, but it was nice to peruse them every now and then.

 _ **macy1302: just rewatched the Olympic beam final, can't get over how amazing jj_jareau94 was! 3**_

 _ **krhuger: Still in awe of the Fierce Five! jj_jareau94 aly_raisman gabrielledoug MckaylaMaroney kylaross96**_

 _ **ash_winning: I seriously love you jj_jareau94**_

As she liked each of the tweets, her phone buzzed in her hand, a text from Will appearing at the top. She opened it straight away, wondering what he wanted.

 _ **Wanna go for a walk?**_

He knew her too well. Being idle was not a strong suit of JJ's for sure.

 _ **Sure. Meet you at yours in twenty :)**_

* * *

True to her word, twenty minutes later, she was walking towards Will's front gate. As she approached, Will came out of the house, breaking into a smile when he saw her.

"Hey you. Gonna outrun me today?"

"Like always," JJ said with a cheeky grin, falling into step beside him as they started walking down the sidewalk.

"I went with your mom to see the show when you guys were in Pittsburgh," Will said softly. "Was pretty wild, hey?"

JJ looked surprised. "Why didn't you tell me you were going?"

"Didn't wanna make you nervous," Will said with a smile. "You looked like you were having fun"

JJ smiled back. "Yeah, it was pretty fun. Something different, no pressure"

They fell into a comfortable silence as they rounded the corner and started across the park. It was late afternoon and the sun was beginning to sink lower in the sky. Kids were playing on the playground in the distance, the sounds of their imaginary games and their laughter floating clear across the open ground.

JJ wasn't paying attention to what Will was doing beside her as she looked out across the park, the grass sinking beneath her feet. When he grabbed her hand and stopped her in her tracks, she was caught off guard. Turning around, she looked at him curiously as he gently pulled her back towards him.

"I don't wanna keep avoiding this conversation," he said softly.

JJ took a deep breath, shaking her head. "Me either"

"I'm hoping you feel the same way, JJ, because since we kissed, I haven't stopped thinking about you"

Lifting her gaze to meet Will's, JJ nodded slowly.

"I wasn't sure at first... but now... I know how I feel. I don't think there was a moment on the tour when I wasn't thinking about you either... and I want to see what the future holds for us," she said, the butterflies in her stomach fluttering away as she spoke.

Will broke into a handsome grin, pulling JJ even closer. She couldn't help but smile, a laugh escaping her lips as she wrapped her arms around him.

"So where do we stand?" Will asked with a chuckle.

JJ bit her lip as a cheeky smile crept onto her face. "I think, if you want us to be a couple, I might just be ok with that"

Will laughed momentarily before leaning in and pressing a kiss to JJ's lips. She lifted her arms, sliding them up around his neck as his snaked around her waist.

They stayed locked together in the embrace for what felt like forever, before JJ pulled away, grinning from ear to ear.

"Race you to the school?"

"You're on," Will replied immediately. "GO!"

"Hey!" JJ laughed as Will took off, breaking into her run as she chased after him. "That wasn't fair!"

"HA HA HA HA HA!" Will cackled over his shoulder, making JJ laugh.

Her boyfriend was nuts.


	20. Chapter 20

**A/N: Really tempted to time jump.**

* * *

The first snow had reached Pennsylvania, and Christmas was well on its way.

JJ was enjoying her time as a normal human being. Despite all the sponsorship deals and promotion opportunities that were rolling in much to her delight, life still felt normal... easy even.

Her budding relationship with Will was a secret for the time being; JJ was a rather private person, and she was happy to enjoy it for a little while before telling her parents that things between the two had changed.

"Your grandparents haven't seen you since before the Olympics, so expect a lot of fussing over you at Christmas dinner this year. Well... more than usual," Sandy said conversationally as she and JJ worked to hang a string of tinsel along the length of the lounge room.

"I don't want them to fuss over me," JJ replied. "I won a few Olympic medals, and yes, that's amazing, but I'm still the same person... I don't want to be treated any different"

"I know," Sandy sympathised. "But they're just proud of you, JJ, as are your dad and I. Not everyone has an Olympic champion in the family, and your grandparents are just excited about that. Even if the fussing gets annoying, try to remember they're just excited and showing you that they're proud"

Shrugging as she taped the tinsel to the curtain rod, JJ stepped down from the step ladder.

"Besides, Aly probably has it worse," Sandy laughed. "Her family is huge"

Grinning at the thought of what her best friend was going to experience come Christmas, JJ nodded. "Definitely worse"

Climbing down from her own step, Sandy folded her arms across the top of the TV and leaning on it as she looked towards her daughter.

"Hey, tell me something," she said, a smile lingering in the corners of her mouth. "What's the deal with you and Will?"

JJ had to fight very hard to stop her face from showing the reaction she was feeling on the inside. How on earth had her mom figured out something was up so quickly?

"What do you mean?"

"Well, you've been spending a lot of time together lately, I'm just curious," Sandy said lightly.

JJ shrugged. "I don't know... nothing's the deal. We've just been hanging out"

She was surprised when her mom started to laugh. As confused as she was, it was infectious, and she couldn't help the grin spreading across her face.

"What?"

"I saw you two on the porch the other day," Sandy chuckled. "If there really is nothing going on, then that makes that kiss a bit awkward"

"Oh my god," JJ groaned, her cheeks flushing red. "I didn't realise you were home"

"Clearly," Sandy laughed.

"I kind of wanted to keep it to myself for a little while. Just until... until we were completely comfortable with it. Not that we aren't... but, like, we're making the jump from friends to being a couple, so it's just taking some time"

Sandy nodded. "No, I understand that. I wasn't going to say anything, but you know me... can't resist a chance to poke a little fun"

"I know," JJ said dryly, rolling her eyes.

"Do we need to have that chat again about sex-"

"No!" JJ cut in before she curst out laughing. "We've been together for about two weeks Mom, slow down. Besides, I can take care of myself, and I know I can come to you if I need anything"

"Too right my girl," Sandy beamed, pushing off of the TV and crossing the room to be closer to her daughter.

"Just please, Mom... don't tell Dad just yet. I'll tell him soon," JJ said softly. "It's still all very new, and we're just figuring stuff out. Like how on earth it's going to work when I go back to training and go back to spending every waking hour in the gym"

Placing her hands on JJ's shoulders, Sandy gave her a comforting smile.

"If it's a relationship that's meant to be in your life, it'll work. Don't you worry about that"

* * *

 **jj_jareau94: Just finished watching the team final. Crying.**

As the pre-medal ceremony montage rolled across the screen, JJ was wiping away the stray tears beneath her eyes.

"You were actually there, JJ," Will chuckled. "And I don't think you cried"

JJ turned, managing a grin. "No, but you don't get it. When I was _actually_ there, it was just a whirlwind. Everything happened so quickly, and adrenaline was on our side... it was mostly a blur. I was too excited to cry. But sitting here and reliving it all... right now, I can actually think about all the work that went into that gold medal, and seeing the exact moment we became Olympic champions... it's pretty moving"

Will broke into a handsome smile as he watched JJ closely.

"I may never fully understand it... but I love how happy you get when you talk about it," he said gently, pulling JJ into his arms. "Promise me you're not giving up gymnastics... because you look happiest when you're defying death in midair"

JJ laughed, leaning against his shoulder as he kissed her temple.

"Don't worry. I'll be back in the gym before you know it. So don't wish away our time right now"

Tipping her face up towards him, Will smiled.

"Never, " he replied, before kissing her gently.

It just felt so right. It felt so natural to be Will's girlfriend. It was like they had been meant for each other the whole time.

And, JJ suddenly realised, her mother may have known that all along.


	21. Chapter 21

**A/N: On a Harry Potter binge!**

* * *

Online classes, interviews, photoshoots... JJ had been incredibly busy over the holiday season. But she was enjoying each and every opportunity that came her way. Her mother had even remarked that her confidence seemed to have grown immeasurably through all the promotional work she was doing, and JJ couldn't help but agree.

It was now mid January. JJ had already decided on a date for her return to elite training – the fourth of February. Nick was confident she would have plenty of time to be ready for the US Classic later that year. They had already devised an in detail training plan that looked to carry JJ right up to the 2016 Summer Olympic Games.

For the first month back in the gym, she would only be conditioning. After that, she would begin training on bars, beam, and floor. Nick had stressed the importance of scaling her difficulty right back and rebuilding it all over again. With a focus on her weaker events, they would start with just enough difficulty to secure medals at an international level, and would slowly increase it each year leading into Rio. Vault would be added to her competitive repertoire again in the 2014 season, as it was the event that seemed to cause the most wear and tear for her. Seeing as JJ didn't want to take a year off, Nick felt this was the most surefire way to ensure she would last the whole quad.

It was a blustery Sunday afternoon when JJ headed down to the gym with Will in tow. She'd been going down there every few days since Christmas, just to keep her fitness up and also to play around with some of her skills in the safety of the foam pit. Having only ever seen JJ's gymnastics in the glamour of a competition arena, Will had eagerly agreed to come along and watch.

The gym was completely empty; it was usually closed on a Sunday, but Nick had come in to do some administrative work.

"No broken limbs, no death, no Produnovas!" Nick yelled out as JJ passed through the foyer.

"Ok, but I can't promise I won't do a Produnova!" JJ called back, grinning when Nick laughed and poked his head out of the office.

"If I see you do anything that looks remotely like a Produnova, I might as well come over there and break your neck myself," he replied. JJ laughed, while Will stood bewildered, having no idea what either of them were talking about.

"Come on," JJ said with a smile, taking Will's hand and leading him out onto the gym floor, towards the trampolines and foam pits up in the back corner.

Before too long, Will had taken up residence on a large foam block, while JJ flipped and jumped around on the trampolines, occasionally throwing a skill into the pit. Will watched with a smile, never taking his eyes off his girlfriend. She truly never looked happier than when she was doing gymnastics, and Will loved seeing the light it brought to her eyes.

THWACK!

A misjudged twisting layout brought JJ down straight onto her stomach from a great height on the mat in the pit. Will leapt up, worried that she was hurt until she burst out laughing.

"That's gonna hurt in the morning," she chuckled, pulling herself up to her knees and stretching out her neck.

"That _sounded_ like it hurt," Will said with a laugh, stepping over and holding out a hand to help JJ out of the pit.

"Oh, that's nothing. Wait till you see me when I have rips the size of Reese's cups on my hands. Or when I've split the beam and have very suspicious bruising as a result. Or when I mistime my run and go ribs first into the vaulting table," JJ said, accepting Will's help and brushing herself off once she was standing before him.

"Are you sure you're an Olympic Champion, or just a very lucky disaster?" Will teased. JJ laughed.

"Probably a very lucky disaster"

Grinning, Will shook his head. "You're crazy, and I love you"

It was so sudden and unexpected that the grin fell immediately from JJ's face once the words had been spoken.

"What?" she asked softly, not sure she'd heard him correctly.

Realising what he'd said, Will momentarily clammed up.

But then he found his words. He meant what he'd said.

"I love you," he said gently, taking both of her hands and giving her a warm, yet nervous smile.

JJ's heart almost skipped a beat. The butterflies that happened every time Will touched her were no fluttering up a tornado in her stomach.

She tightened her fingers around his ever so slightly, lifting her gaze to meet his.

"I love you too," she breathed, a smile winding onto her face. Moments later, she let go of Will's hands, cupping his jaw and pulling him into a deep kiss.

Will's hands slid around her waist, pulling her flush against him. The movement was enough for JJ to slightly lose her balance, and seconds later, they were both falling back onto the mat in the foam pit, effectively breaking their kiss.

Seeing where they were, they both started to laugh.

"I hope Nick wasn't watching that. He'll think we're about to defile one of his precious crash mats," JJ giggled.

Will said nothing, simply pulling JJ in for one more kiss, before sitting up and making to stand.

"Come on. You better get back to your flipping," he said with a smile.

And before too long, JJ was back to throwing her skills.

But Will could swear there was a bit more height in her bounce this time. And a brighter light in her eyes.

* * *

 **Skill Guide:**

 _Produnova [handspring double front] -_ handspring entry vault. From a run, the gymnast leaps onto the springboard and hurdles forward. Rebounding from her hands, she then executes two double front flips in the tucked position before landing. Because the gymnast is upside down at the point of rebound, she technically flips over three times in the air before landing. It is a highly dangerous, rarely competed vault. First competed by Elena Produnova of Russia in the 90's.


	22. Chapter 22

**A/N: I know it seems like their relationship isn't developing but I'm trying to move time rather quickly, and come on, it's JJ and Will... we know they work haha.**

* * *

 _Stepping under the hot water, JJ let out a sigh of relief._

 _Her first day back in proper training had left her so incredibly sore. She was already wondering how she was going to survive the next couple of years._

' _One day at a time,' she scolded herself._

 _The sound of the door creaking open made her jump. As far as she was aware, she was home alone. Her parents were out, and her brother no longer lived with them._

" _Relax Jayje... it's me," came the handsome drawl of her boyfriend as he poked his head into the bathroom. "Mind if I come in?"_

 _JJ heaved a sigh of relief. "Sure. You gave me a heart attack"_

" _Sorry," Will chuckled. JJ watched his silhouette move across the bathroom to take a seat on the edge of the bath. "How was training?"_

" _All of my limbs feel like they're about to fall off, but otherwise, it was excellent," JJ said dryly. Beneath her wit, however, she was acutely aware of the position she was now in. Here she was, completely naked, with nothing but the thin veil of the shower curtain between herself and Will._

 _It was a thought that put a little thrill into her stomach, if she was completely honest._

 _Not that anything like that had ever happened between them. But they'd been together for nearly three months, and JJ's mind had been wandering more frequently towards some less than appropriate thoughts._

 _But Will hadn't made any indication that he was ready for that kind of step, and so for now, she would keep it under wraps._

 _A few minutes later, she turned off the water, reaching out and pulling her towel into the stall to wrap herself up._

 _She stepped out, looking towards her boyfriend with a grin._

" _Are you going to make a habit of hanging around while I shower?" she teased._

" _I might," Will shrugged, breaking into a cheeky smile as JJ walked out into the bedroom to get dressed._

 _Remaining seated on the rim of the bathtub to allow JJ some privacy to change, Will took a deep breath. Their jump from friends to couple was going so well that he hardly dared believe it to be true._

 _Glancing up for a moment, his jaw dropped when his eyes landed on something particularly stunning._

 _The standing mirror that sat in the corner of JJ's room, just outside the bathroom, happened to be reflecting an image of JJ as she changed._

 _Part of him wanted to look away and give her her privacy, especially since he wasn't sure where they stood as far as the physicality of their relationship was concerned. But the other part of him was entranced by the picture before him._

 _Her back was to the mirror, showing off her smooth, perfect skin. Muscles rippled underneath her skin, all the way down her back to her perfectly toned bum. Not to mention, the late afternoon sunlight streaming through the window was casting an angelic glow around her, like a halo of light._

 _Will gulped._

 _Maybe he would need a cold shower._

* * *

They left the restaurant wrapped up in each other, protecting against the chill of the February wind. It was their first Valentine's together, as well as the first time either of them had had someone to share Valentine's with.

Not once had their conversation drifted towards the Olympics, or gymnastics, or anything remotely close to the topic. It had been refreshing, and JJ felt all that much closer to Will by the time they left.

They sat in comfortable silence on the short drive from the restaurant back to Will's, Will's free hand laced with JJ's over the centre console. It didn't take long for them to arrive at his house and head inside, out of the cold late winter air.

"Dinner was amazing. Thank you," JJ said softly as Will closed the door behind them. He said nothing, only smiling as he helped JJ out of her jacket and hung it up on the hall stand with his own.

JJ smiled, intrigued as Will took her hand and gently led her towards the stairs.

She felt like she knew what was coming. And whereas a month ago, that thought would have freaked her out, now, it only made her body hum with excitement.

By now, they were at the top of the stairs, and Will was pushing open his bedroom door.

JJ's jaw dropped. Will had put some serious thought into the night ahead. A bunch of red roses lay on his neatly made bed, the center point of a room that had been thoroughly tidied. A few candles sat on the end tables either side of his bed, waiting to be lit.

"Happy Valentine's day," Will said softly, wrapping his arms around JJ's waist as she broke into a smile.

"I love you," she replied, stretching up to press a deep kiss to his lips.

Candles were lit, shoes were kicked off, and the roses cast aside as the young couple collapsed onto the bed, completely engrossed in each other.

JJ lost all track of time as their hands fully explored each other's bodies for the first time. One by one, pieces of clothing were tossed into the corner, until they were nothing more than a beautiful naked tangle of arms and legs.

Will's lips had left a burning trail all over her skin, occasionally pausing to lick or suck particular spots (all spots that would later be hidden by clothing; even gym clothes). Her body was now throbbing with anticipation, and she knew Will's was as well.

"Are you sure about this?" Will asked softly after he'd donned a condom.

JJ nodded, biting her lip as he lay over the top of her and laced his fingers with hers. Seconds later, she felt him pushing gently into her. Even so, she still winced as her body stretched in such a way for the first time.

"Am I hurting you?" Will asked worriedly.

"It's ok," JJ replied softly, cupping his cheek with her free hand. "It's normal"

They lay there for a few moments, enjoying the feeling of being so intimately close. JJ couldn't help but smile at Will, pulling him in for a passionate kiss as his hips started rocking against hers.

It built up so quickly, the excitement of it all getting to them easily. JJ could feel it tightening in her belly, her toes beginning to curl as the first few waves suddenly released.

"Will!" she cried out, clutching at him as her orgasm rocked her to her very core. Stars seemed to pop in front of her eyes, her vision going fuzzy for a moment as the intense feeling rolled through her body in shockwaves. She heard Will groan, his motions slowing before the two of them became nothing more than a sweaty tangle of arms and legs.

Taking a few moments to catch her breath, JJ bit back a soft smile as Will pulled the sheet over the top of them and pulled her into his arms.

It was a short while later when she turned her head, smiling softly at her boyfriend as he ran his fingers through her hair.

"Hey," he said quietly, a smile playing on the corners of his mouth.

"Hey," JJ replied with a breathless giggle.

"You're shaking," Will pointed out, nodding towards JJ's hands.

"I know," JJ said, chuckling slightly. "You rocked my world there"

Will grinned, pressing a kiss to her forehead, and then her lips, before shifting so that they were laying a little more comfortably.

"I must be pretty good if my Olympic Champion girlfriend is weak at the knees," he teased, getting a playful slap in the chest and a laugh out of JJ.

"You're getting a big head," she giggled.

"I don't know about a big head, but hopefully something else...," Will said with a cheeky smile. JJ burst out laughing.

"You are terrible," she groaned through a grin. Will laughed, continuing to run his fingers through the ends of her hair as she tucked her head beneath his chin, her eyes already drooping. It had been a jam packed day, brought to a perfect end.

"Get some rest my girl," Will whispered in her ear. "I love you"

JJ didn't even have the chance to reply before drowsiness pulled her under and into a deep, restful sleep.


	23. Chapter 23

**A/N: Happy new year!**

* * *

Blazing sunlight and an empty bed greeted JJ when she opened her eyes the next morning.

She didn't even have a second to wonder where Will had disappeared to before she heard someone rattling around in the kitchen downstairs. Since his parents weren't due to return until that evening, she knew it could only be Will.

Rolling onto her back, she clutched the sheet to her chest, a happy smile crossing her face as she thought back to the previous evening. It had been romantic and special, and JJ couldn't have asked for anything more for her first sexual experience.

Now it all felt real. Their relationship was serious. Whereas JJ hadn't been sure if they were successfully going to transition from friends to a couple, she knew now that they were going to be just fine.

Turning her head, she picked up her phone, seeing a few unanswered messages, one from her mother.

 _ **Hope you had a good night xx let me know when you're headed home**_

Setting her phone down again as she pulled herself out of the bed, she wondered briefly if her mom knew what they'd done.

But, she found as she sifted through their clothing in search of her underwear, she didn't really care. Whether her mom knew anything or not, what she did know was that JJ and Will were not just messing around. JJ knew she was trusted to make the right decisions for herself, and that was all that mattered.

After she'd pulled on her underwear and one of Will's T-shirts (which hung on her like a dress), she made her way downstairs into the kitchen.

"There's my beautiful girl," Will said, a happy smile crossing his face as JJ entered the room. She blushed slightly, unable to fight back a smile as Will rounded the counter and pressed a kiss to her lips, his arms snaking around her waist as he did.

"Morning," he whispered when they broke apart.

"Morning," JJ said through a smile, watching him contently as he moved back over to the frypan on the stove.

"I have bacon, eggs, and pancakes," Will announced a few moments later, turning around with two generously portioned plates of food and passing one to JJ. "Unless, of course, you can't eat certain things for training"

"Mm, I might just have to keep you around," JJ said with a giggle. "And don't worry... one breakfast cooked with love won't kill me"

Grinning as he pulled the counter stool around to sit opposite JJ, Will watched as she dug into the food, obviously hungry.

They ate in silence for about ten minutes until they both set their cutlery down, full to bursting with the delicious food.

"Thank you," JJ said warmly. "That was really good"

"My pleasure," Will replied, clearing away their dishes and setting them on the edge of the sink. Having done that, he turned back to JJ, leaning against the edge of the counter and taking her hands.

"Last night... what we shared... I hope you know just how much I love you," he said softly after a short silence.

The corners of JJ's lips quirked into a touched smile as she gave his hands a gentle squeeze.

"I love you too," she reiterated, rising from her stool to lean across and give him a deep kiss. It was passionate... almost needy, like there was more untapped energy to be found.

Somehow, they found their way upstairs once more, their hands never leaving each other's bodies even when the final cry of ecstasy rang out through the nearly silent house.

* * *

" _I literally haven't seen your face in like a hundred years"_

JJ laughed. "Aly, I spoke to you just after New Year's"

" _I know! That's so long ago! I haven't actually seen you properly since the tour, I miss you,"_ Aly pouted, flopping onto her bed. JJ smiled as she reached the top of the stairs and walked into her room.

" _So? Did Will take you out last night for Valentine's? Did he treat the queen of the Olympics to a fancy meal?"_

JJ giggled. "Don't let Gabby hear you call me the queen of the Olympics"

" _She's miles away,"_ Aly laughed. _"I'm only joking anyway. So, did he actually take you out?"_

"Yeah. We had dinner at this Italian place I've been wanting to try since before London, and it was _so good_ , Aly, I could have food comaed right there"

Aly laughed, tossing her hair back over her shoulders. " _Ah but you're back in training, so no food comaing for Nick!"_

"I'll try my hardest," JJ giggled.

" _What did you do after dinner? Go for a nice romantic walk in the moonlight?"_

JJ grinned. "Think more along the lines of taking each other's clothes off in the candlelight and you're on the right track"

Aly burst out laughing, bouncing excitedly in her place on her bed.

" _Oh my god, did you actually?"_

JJ nodded. "Yeah... and possibly again this morning"

Aly broke into a huge grin. _"Aw! I'm happy for you guys! Sounds like it was a special night"_

"It was. I always wondered if sex with Will was going to be weird because we've been "just friends" for so long, but it really wasn't"

" _Well, they say the best relationships start as friendships. You and Will have something good. Doesn't hurt that he is freaking gorgeous too"_

JJ chuckled. "Hands off, my friend"

Looking over at her clock, JJ sighed. "I need to go, I've got afternoon training in an hour. Talk tomorrow?"

" _I'll hunt you down if we don't. Love you!"_

"Love you too Aly!" JJ replied with a grin, waving at her friend just before the call ended. She took a moment to plug her phone in to charge, before getting up and heading over to her dresser to find her gym clothes.

Oh, how easily she had transitioned back into an elite training schedule.

* * *

"Marta has asked for you to attend the March camp if we feel you're ready. She's not expecting full routines from you, I explained to her the training plan we've put in place, but she thought it would be nice for you to get back in the swing of things and show her what skills you've been working on," Nick explained from his perch on the low beam while JJ worked on her flexibility on the floor.

"The other thing I want to discuss... I know I vaguely talked which events we're going to be working with you on for this season, but I had a bit of an in-depth review of what we're going to do with your routines for now"

Taking a breath, he flicked through his notes.

"We'll keep your bars relatively the same, we'll just adjust it to the new code. Your bars difficulty was fairly average last season, but despite your bronze medal, I _know_ you are capable of hitting that routine every time without fail. So we aren't going to change the routine, we're just going to drill it until you can do it in your sleep"

Glancing down once more, Nick smiled. "You're going to get a new floor routine your first week in full training"

JJ beamed with excitement. "Really? Can I pick my new music?"

Nick nodded. "If there's something you want to perform to, by all means, bring it in and Dominic will work with it. We're also going to rework your tumbles. I think you're capable of more, but we won't upgrade this year; we might change some around a bit because to me, the way your tumbling is constructed right now feels a little clunky, I think we can get it looking a lot smoother"

JJ nodded in agreement.

"And as for beam, well, that's your pet event. If you want to go hard or go home on beam, that's your decision, but I think it would be smart to scale it back this year. We don't want you injured or burnt out at the end of 2015"

"Yeah," JJ mused. "I want to keep my mount though. I've always hit it in competition"

"You have, I think that's fine. We might just lower your layout full to a simple layout, rework the connections to the code, things like that. This year is about hammering out imperfections and learning the code. Next year, we start looking to upgrade, or in your case with beam, return to previous levels"

Reaching up, JJ high fived her coach, both of them beaming ear to ear.

"Sounds like a plan"


	24. Chapter 24

**A/N: I stayed up past my bedtime to write this.**

* * *

March brought a reprieve from the cold, which JJ was grateful for.

The second day of March had brought the first meet of the year for the American girls. JJ had excitedly sat down to watch the broadcast, even convincing Will to join her.

The two girls representing the USA were both new seniors that year. JJ had met Katelyn Ohashi a few times over the years. Katelyn was a young product of WOGA, the same gym that had produced Olympic champions Carly Patterson and Nastia Liukin. Her eyes were set firmly on the Rio Olympics in 2016, and from what JJ was seeing as she performed, she was likely to get there with a little perseverance.

The other young lady was Simone Biles. Simone was something of a mystery to JJ; she had never met the younger girl, or even heard of her up until the Cup. Whether Simone was shooting for the Olympics was unknown, but JJ guessed she was; what elite gymnast wasn't these days?

Simone was a stocky little girl who stood no taller than probably 4'6, with her muscular frame clear even beneath her hot pink leotard. Her smile was infectious, and JJ found she couldn't help but smile as she watched her.

Vault had started cleanly for both girls. JJ had been blown away by the explosive power Simone harnessed in her tiny body, with the young gymnast busting out an Amanar that would easily give McKayla a run for her money. Bars had gone ok for both girls, but they both looked as though they wished they had done better.

The meet carried on, and eventually it came to the great leveller; balance beam.

"Hey look, it's your favourite event," Will said with a grin.

"It's also the hardest to watch," JJ replied drylyl.

Katelyn was up first out of the two Americans. She opened up with a super hard flight series; two back handsprings into a layout full.

"Isn't that the same one you do?" Will asked.

JJ turned to him with a smile. "Look at you starting to identify skills"

"One of my many talents," Will teased, wrapping an arm around her shoulders as she settled back to watch the rest of the event.

Katelyn's beam, while a little shaky, was enough for her to hold first place. Simone unfortunately fell on her layout, meaning that unless Katelyn fell apart on floor, Katelyn would be the American Cup champion.

And so they watched as it played out exactly how they suspected. Katelyn won with a beautiful Indian styled routine, while Simone took second after a floor routine full of power and energy.

"What do you think of those two?" Will asked after the broadcast had concluded.

"Katelyn is gorgeous in everything she does, but she needs a little more confidence I think. Simone... she has the potential to be absolutely incredible, but if she doesn't learn to harness all that power, it's going to be very costly for her in the long run. They're both incredible though. Any of us coming back have some competition," JJ replied with a smile.

"You excited to go back to camp?"

JJ nodded, tucking her head underneath Will's chin and folding her arms across his. "Yeah. I'm excited to see the girls again"

Will kissed the top of her head, brushing her hair back from her face. "You always look happiest doing gymnastics"

Tipping her head back so she could see his face, JJ gave him a warm smile. "Yeah... but I think I feel the happiest with you"

Will had no reply.

All he could do was kiss her, while his heart soared.

* * *

Days became weeks, which turned into months.

JJ had returned to camp, where she had been reunited with Kyla, and later, McKayla. She had met all the young girls who had turned senior that year, including the ever smiling Simone Biles. That meeting had been quite funny, with Simone getting a little starstruck the first time she met JJ and McKayla.

" _I forgot how weird camp food is," JJ mused, pushing her food around her plate as Kyla sat down across from her._

" _You'll be readjusted in no time," Kyla giggled, before looking up and spotting someone across the room. She waved them over, wanting them to join JJ and herself._

 _JJ looked up from her plate just as Simone, Katelyn, and Elizabeth Price, one of the Olympic alternates, joined them at the table._

" _Hey," she said, flashing them a warm smile. Simone couldn't help but get all giggly, sandwiching herself in between Katelyn and Kyla._

" _Simone has been eagerly awaiting the day you decided to show your face at camp again," Kyla laughed._

" _Well, here I am," JJ said with a grin. "I promise I don't bite, and I'm just as normal as your next door neighbours"_

" _I think my neighbours are drug dealers," Katelyn piped up._

" _I'm not as 'normal' as Katelyn's neighbours," JJ said immediately, making all the girls laugh._

" _You were awesome at the Olympics," Simone finally said, her smile never leaving her face._

" _And you were awesome at the American Cup," JJ replied sincerely, returning Simone's smile as she pushed a lump of questionable meat to the side of her plate. Looking up at Kyla, she laughed._

" _Are we going to actually survive the camp food before Worlds?"_

Her routines were coming back together with ease. For a change of pace, she had selected new floor music; a fast, upbeat version of 'Carnaval de Paris'. So far, she loved the routine. Some of her tumbles had been changed to other skills of the same value, and she found that her endurance on floor was much better than she remembered it being.

Nothing much had changed on beam and bars. Her front tuck mount was still in the routine, but her layout full was downgraded to a layout, and her standing Arabian removed altogether.

All the changes had brought a fresh start to the year and a fresh feel to her gymnastics.

She was excited for what the year was going to bring.


	25. Chapter 25

**A/N: Faves!**

* * *

Wiping her forehead as she locked her car and turned towards the front door, JJ let out a heavy sigh.

Training was taking everything she had. Deep down, she still loved the sport of gymnastics, but on the surface, she was wondering why the hell it was so much harder trying to come back after the Olympic Games.

As she turned the handle and crossed the threshold, a flicker of worry shot into her stomach.

Was this a sign of her burning out by the end of the quad?

'No,' she scolded herself firmly.

She had promised to take it all one day at a time. And that was exactly what she was going to do. Besides... half the battle was overcoming her own expectations. She was a five time Olympic medallist, meaning she had a reputation to uphold. And that meant that she was probably being much harder on herself in her quest to regain her skills and strength.

"I'm home!" she called out as she closed the door behind her.

"It's about time!"

JJ froze; she knew that voice, but it didn't belong to any of her family.

Dropping her bag on the floor and her keys on the table, she made a beeline for the kitchen, rounding the frame so fast she nearly ran into it.

Standing with her mom in the middle of the kitchen, was Aly.

JJ let out a shriek of joy, throwing her arms around her best friend as her mom watched with a smile that went from ear to ear.

"Oh my god!" JJ said as she let go and stepped back. "Look, you're making me cry"

Aly grinned, putting an arm around JJ's shoulders as JJ wiped away a stray tear.

"Nice surprise?" Sandy asked with a chuckle.

"The best," JJ agreed, looping her arm around Aly's waist, her smile never leaving her face.

Seeing Aly seemed to be just the lift she had needed.

* * *

As it turned out, Aly was staying until the day JJ flew out for the May national team camp, meaning they had a little over a week together. After that, they likely wouldn't see each other again until Nationals.

"Are you competing the Classic?" Aly asked that night, tossing back a handful of popcorn as their cult favourite movie, _Stick It,_ played on JJ's TV.

"Yeah, but not to qualify, since I'm already qualified from the Olympics. I'm using it to test out my routines, so that if anything doesn't work so well, we can change it before Nationals," JJ replied, taking a bite out of her apple.

"What are the new seniors like?"

"Oh my god, Aly, they're tiny. And so cute," JJ laughed. "I remember being that little and scared of all the older girls back in 2010. There's this one girl though, Simone, she is something else"

"How so?"

"She's got boundless energy, she's always laughing, and once she's been introduced to any of us older girls, she has no problems talking our ears off," JJ laughed. "She's a sweetheart though, and the funniest thing is, she gets along with Kyla like a house on fire"

Aly had to laugh; from the sounds of it, Kyla and Simone were like polar opposites. Imagining Kyla trying to keep up with Simone was enough to make anyone giggle.

"What about the other girls?"

"Well," JJ started, "you know Katelyn Ohashi already, and then there's Lexie Priessman, the junior all-around champion from last year. Katelyn actually wasn't at the last camp, apparently she's injured her shoulder, but hopefully she's back for the Classic. Then there's Madison Kocian?"

"I think I've met her, but it was only briefly," Aly said softly.

"She's so sweet, but she's so quiet. Gorgeous on bars though"

"What about the girls from last year, who's still around?"

"Obviously me, Kyla, and Mac. Ebee Price and Brenna Dowell are still kicking it with us, Mykayla Skinner is taking a shot at Worlds. Sarah Finnegan came back as well, she's not too fussed about Worlds but is gonna see what happens"

"Is it weird without me?" Aly asked with a grin.

"Yes! When are you coming back?" JJ exclaimed.

"Not sure. I'll see how I feel. I know I'm not done though, that's for sure. I'll just live vicariously through you for now"

Silence fell once more as they watched a little more of the movie. Barely five minutes had passed before Aly spoke again.

"So, Miss I Won Two Bronze Medals That I Was Only Expected To Get When Hell Froze Over... are you Marta's favourite this year?" Aly teased. JJ laughed.

"I'd say that's Kyla to be honest," she replied with a smile. "Which is fair, because Marta has always loved Kyla"

"Everyone loves Kyla, she's an adorable ray of sunshine," Aly mused.

A knock on the door interrupted their conversation.

"Come in," JJ called. Moments later, the door swung open and Will poked his head into the room.

"Hey you," he said, a handsome smile crossing his face. JJ beamed, hopping off the bed and going over to him, greeting him with a quick kiss. Still smiling, she stepped back, giving him room to come in.

"Will, I don't know if you've met Aly?"

"Don't believe I have. Will LaMontagne," Will said warmly, holding out his hand.

"Nice to meet you," Aly replied. A cheeky grin had crossed her face, and JJ knew she was thinking back to all the conversations in London.

"So tell me JJ, is it going to become customary for me to be surrounded by world class gymnasts?" Will asked jokingly.

"Most likely, so get used to being the least special person in the room," JJ replied with a giggle.

"Now that's just mean," Will pouted, pretending to be hurt. The girls laughed, moving over so that there was room for Will to sit down.

Their night was wasted away with movies, chatter, and plenty of laughter, even after Will left to go home.

Even though she had to be up early for gym in the morning, JJ was thrilled. Her best friend was right at her side once more, ready to cheer her on through the next chapter of her gymnastics life.


	26. Chapter 26

**A/N: This meet was harder to write because I've never actually seen a broadcast of it, and I'm not even 100 percent sure it ever was broadcasted, hence why I only in depth described one routine. Enjoy!**

* * *

" _Good evening, and welcome to the 2013 Secret US Classic! I'm Al Trautwig, surrounded by gold medallists Nastia Liukin and Tim Daggett. Can you believe it's already this time of year again Tim?"_

" _No I can't, it has come around so fast. It feels like just yesterday that we were watching the Fierce Five take team gold, and in fact, it's been almost exactly a year to the day!"_

" _Tim, we have three of the Fierce Five making their post-Olympic competitive debut tonight, what do you think about how they're looking?"_

" _Well, Marta Karolyi, the national team coordinator, is just thrilled with the progress all three girls have made since returning to the gym. Kyla Ross has made some small upgrades in some places and is looking stronger than ever. She's really focused on having some individual success this year to build on the backbone of that Olympic gold medal. Jennifer Jareau, on the other hand, has downgraded almost everywhere. I spoke to her coach, Nicholas Romero, just before the meet began, and he told me that they are scaling it right back and building it all back up slowly because, JJ has decided she wants to try for Rio. Her routines are still difficult enough to place well, but that dazzling beam routine that won her the gold medal in London? You won't see that today. McKayla Maroney is looking more powerful than ever on vault and floor, and she's hoping to have an injury free year this year and hopefully regain her world title on the vault"_

" _Nastia, there's a lot of new seniors in the mix this year, and two of them are from your old gym!"_

" _I know! I'm so excited to see what Madison can do today. Unfortunately, Katelyn is still out with an injury. We're hoping she'll be back for Nationals, but we'll have to wait and see"_

* * *

Standing at the edge of the floor, JJ focused on chalking herself up for floor. The arena was loud around her, and she found it was helping her get back in the game.

God, she'd missed this.

" _On floor for Romero's, Jennifer Jareau!"_

The one thing she had not expected was the absolute roar of the crowd upon having her name announced. Clearly, her success at the Olympics had escalated her popularity within USA Gymnastics.

Saluting the judges, she stepped into place and readied herself in her starting pose.

" _This is a new routine for JJ, very different to last year's"_

Her music began, an upbeat cut of _Carnaval de Paris_ that basically told everyone in the room 'I'm going to Rio'. A smile breaking onto her face, she began to dance, working her way back into the corner. She made sure she wasn't static for too long; as per the new rules, gymnasts could no longer stand in the corner on two feet before tumbling.

" _This is a new pass for her, they're experimenting with some new combinations"_

She took off, hurdling powerfully into her round-off backflip, her mind focused on the double layout coming next.

The punch felt good, but halfway through the skill, she knew it hadn't been as good as she'd hoped.

" _OOH! Ow, that looked like it hurt!"_

The second layout was so low to the ground that she practically crashed into the floor, causing her to rebound into a bad punch front in order to prevent her face from smashing into the carpet. The punch front was no better, landing her flat on her back, staring up at the overhead lights way above her head. Adrenaline pumping, she made no hesitation in pulling herself up and continuing with the routine.

" _That was scary!"_

" _Her ankles are going to feel that landing tomorrow"_

She soldiered through the routine, but knew by the end that she'd definitely upset the ligaments in her ankles. Nothing felt torn as such, but there was now a dull ache, particularly in her left ankle, that intensified for a split second every time she landed something.

Moments before starting her last pass, she made the split second decision to just do a simple back tuck out of her flip; she was qualified to Nationals as it was, and her floor routine was pretty much sentenced to death after the first tumble anyway.

Landing it easily, she leapt down into her final pose, still managing a big smile for the crowd. Holding it for a moment, she then stood up and saluted the judges, before heading towards the stairs. She could see Nick waiting at the bottom, and having caught his eye, managed a shrug and a grin.

" _She doesn't look too upset by that, does she Tim?"_

" _No, and here's the thing. I spoke to Marta about JJ earlier today, and she told us that JJ has become much more confident in her gymnastics and in herself since going to London; going to the Olympics and having the success she had was the best thing that could have happened to her for her confidence. A year ago, a floor routine like that would have caused a near meltdown. It says a lot about the athlete she's become that, even when the stakes are low for her, she can have a bad routine and walk away with a smile. She'll come back even stronger on bars and beam, I'm almost certain of that"_

"Your ankles aren't going to like you tomorrow," Nick said in a singsong voice as JJ sat down on her chair. JJ chuckled.

"No, but I've had worse. Like shoulders out of place, the fun stuff," she joked.

"We'll work on the layout back in the gym, provided you can still walk by then," Nick said, kneeling down and lifting one of JJ's feet into his lap so he could start taping up her ankle. "You did it beautifully the other day, I think your adrenaline just took over and you got a bit ahead of yourself. From where I was standing, it looked like you started to flip before you reached the full height of your rebound. It's also possible that you punched more back instead of up, but I'm not too sure. We'll get the video and review it"

" _What's Marta thinking right now?"_

" _She knows JJ's a tough competitor. It's her first meet back since the Olympics, she'll definitely have it together for Nationals"_

* * *

The third rotation had seen its own troubles; on floor, Simone had tuckered out before her last tumbling pass, and had landed it almost exactly the same way JJ had landed hers - crunched ankles, with her face inches from the floor. That had led to her scratching vault to protect her ankles, meaning Kyla inevitably went on to win the all-around title.

JJ had come back guns blazing on bars and beam to deliver two beautiful sets that almost made everyone forget her nail biting fall on floor, reassuring her own worries about whether she could handle the pressure. The fall had been a surprising fluke, of that she was certain. The pain in her ankles had almost died away (but per Nick's insistence, she would be off to the physical therapist on Monday).

She had soared on uneven bars, showing incredible improvement upon the previous year. Halfway through her routine, she had heard Kyla call out "make it fly JJ!". It was a phrase she had never heard before in her life, but somehow, it put some extra wind beneath her wings, and her bars had felt lighter than ever.

Beam, while downgraded, had been her place to prove her gold was merited. And that, she had done, keeping her signature front tuck mount and full twisting double back dismount. The cheers and screams from the crowd when she had landed had been incredible to say the least.

She was pre-qualified to Nationals, and now, she had about a month to iron out the kinks in her routines and come back looking like the Olympic Champion she knew she was.


	27. Chapter 27

**A/N: Short one but a good one!**

* * *

With her mom out at work and her dad home on his day off, JJ was taking advantage of her downtime between training sessions to well and truly relax. Her body was tired, but her mind was well and truly awake, and for one reason only.

It was the 31st of July.

A year since she and the girls had stormed their way to the Olympic gold in London. She had woken up that morning to a tirade of excited messages from Gabby and McKayla in their group chat, which were just continuing through the day.

 _ **6:00am**_ **  
McKayla – oh my god girls, guess what day it is!?  
Gabby – a year to the day?!**

 _ **6:10am  
**_ **JJ – has it seriously been a year already!  
McKayla – yep! Where's Aly and Kyla, we gotta celebrate!  
JJ – Aly won't get up until like 10, come on, it's ALY!**

 _ **6:17am  
**_ **Kyla – I'm here!**

The excited messages had rolled in all throughout JJ's morning practice, including some long overdue ones from Aly at around 8, which had made all the girls laugh upon reading them.

 _ **8:03am  
**_ **Aly – you guys blew up my phone! I'm all for celebrating lol, just calm down a bit.  
JJ – look at you sleeping until 8, Grandma Aly  
Aly – I will steal your pretty boyfriend  
McKayla – omg hahaha**

Now, JJ was lying on the couch in the living room, having just made a celebratory Instagram post. With her attention partly on whatever trashy reality show was playing on TV, she was still messaging back and forth with the girls.

The picture she had posted was one that had been taken of the five of them on the podium the night they won their gold medal. Beneath it, a heartfelt caption.

 _ **The top of the podium was only a foot off the ground, but to us, it might as well have been the top of the world. Can't believe it's already been a year since the five of us made our biggest Olympic dreams come true and won Olympic gold. Such an incredible experience, and I'm thankful I got to share it with these four amazing girls. I love you girls, and I'll see you at the top of the next one!**_

"The year flew by, hey?" came her dad's voice. Looking up over her phone, JJ smiled at him as he walked over to the couch and moved her legs so he could sit down.

"It did, it's crazy. Like... it feels like yesterday that I was at the Olympics wondering what was going to come next... and here I am on my way to Nationals again," she said, pushing herself up so she was sitting with her back against the arm of the couch.

"It feels like yesterday I was up in the stands cheering and screaming until I had no voice left," Michael chuckled. JJ grinned, setting her phone down beside her so her attention was wholly on her father.

"Have you thought at all about what you want to achieve this time around? I mean... you've hit basically the pinnacle of success already," Michael said softly after a short silence.

"Well...," JJ started thoughtfully, "I'd like to win an all-around title. National, World, Olympic, I'm not that fussed... although Olympic all-around champion has a nice ring to it," she said with a grin. "But realistically, I think a national title is the most attainable, and I've been working really hard on bars this year so people will stop saying I'm not good on bars"

"You have your bronze all-around medal," Michael reminded her.

"Yeah, but... and I'm not setting all these goals based on what people think of me and my gymnastics... people seem to think it was a fluke. I want to either consistently medal in the all-around or win a title to show that it wasn't a fluke and I have put in the hard work to be there," JJ explained.

"Anything else?"

"Nick's been talking about adding a second vault by 2015. Which sounds pretty cool to be honest, I mean, last year the main goal was just getting to the Olympics, but this time around, I'd like to work each event much more individually. I'd like to try increasing my vaulting... if I don't last the quad this time around, I've almost got nothing to lose. I've been to the Olympics and had success, so it's not like I'll lose that chance"

Michael nodded. "Very true. But you know what? I think you can do it. You've always achieved anything you've set your mind to. And I promise, whatever competitions you get sent to, I'll be in the stands cheering the loudest"

JJ laughed. "I know you will. Thanks Dad"

Standing up, Michael leant over and pressed a kiss to the top of JJ's head. "Any time princess"


	28. Chapter 28

**A/N: I have gymnastics brain!**

* * *

" _Ooh, that was so close, she barely had her hands around the bar!"_

"Come on Simone!" JJ cheered, clapping her hands together as Simone flew between the high and low bar on her Pak salto.

It was night 1 of Nationals. JJ couldn't believe how fast time had flown. It was a year since the Olympics had ended, and here she was, proving she still had it in her to compete at the top level.

Simone flew into the air for her full twisting double back, landing it with ease and straightening up immediately to salute the judges. JJ and the other girls in their rotation began to applaud as Simone jumped down from the podium and hugged her coach, Aimee.

Grabbing her spray bottle, JJ headed up onto the podium; she would congratulate Simone on a hit routine later. Nick was already there, prepping the bars for her as she stood over the chalk bucket readying her grips.

" _So we'll have JJ up next on the bars... you know, I used to think that JJ wasn't very strong on bars, but she went and made me eat crow by winning that bronze medal last year hahaha. I think JJ's issue is actually consistency; she's capable of a GREAT routine, but very rarely does she actually hit it"_

" _She certainly hit it four for four in London"_

Simone's score was announced amongst the noise of the crowd, and JJ was ready to go. She got her green flag almost immediately, and wasted no time in saluting the judges.

Before she had too much time to think about it, she had mounted the bars and cast up into handstand, focusing on keeping everything tight and clean.

The first few skills were fine; pirouettes, kips, low to high flight element, all good. Her Tkatchev was clear over the high bar, and it connected straight to her Pak salto.

And it was on the Pak salto that it became a little unravelled. When she caught sight of the bar on the other end of the flip, she was way too close to it to catch it smoothly. Instead, she hit it and buckled her elbows, losing control of the momentum and smacking her feet into the floor as she flew through into a wild kip cast.

" _Oh boy"_

Heart racing, her nerves a little on edge, she muscled her way back into a handstand, executing a quick half turn before shooting back up to the high bar.

" _She's rattled now, and she's working a little bit quicker than she should. She needs to slow down, calm down, and keep going"_

Giant swing, straight into her double layout dismount. The landing was clean, but the damage was done.

" _Not a good routine for JJ. This is the problem they have with her on bars. She's not as comfortable swinging bars as she is working on beam, so one little mistake can really rattle her nerves for the whole routine. She was really close on that Pak salto, I think she scared herself when she flipped forward and saw the bar"_

Heaving a sigh, JJ hopped down onto the walkway.

"That was bad," she sighed.

"Wasn't your best, but that's ok, it's things we can fix. You and I are going to win this battle against the bars this quad, that's a promise," Nick said with a reassuring smile. "You are _good_ on bars JJ, I think sometimes the bars get the best of you and the self doubt creeps in"

" _The battle of the bars. I hope JJ can conquer this apparatus in coming years, because she has a beautiful style up there. She could be a real asset to Team USA in the team final if she gets a bit more consistent"_

* * *

Every skill was punched into the beam with a loud _thwack_. She fought hard not to wobble. After the bars mishap, there was no room for mistakes if she wanted to prove to Marta that she was ready to go to Worlds.

Her leaps were beautifully flexible, her acrobatic skills clean and concise. Not a wobble to be seen.

With a ring of the bell, it was just the dismount to go.

Flip, flip, full twisting double tuck. Only the slightest shuffle of her feet and she was up.

" _Good comeback! Marta will be impressed with that!"_

"Yes!" JJ cheered as she walked back down to join Nick, clapping her hands together triumphantly. Nick beamed, giving her a tight hug before she was congratulated on her great routine by the other girls.

 _"She's happy with that, and rightly so!"_

'Atta girl,' Nick thought as he watched her with a smile. What a way to fight back after a mistake.

* * *

Floor had gone better than at the Classic; she hadn't fallen on her a double layout, but she had still come up slightly short and had to take a couple of steps forward to compensate. But she had finished her other tumbles strongly, and therefore, finished her night on a high note.

After the fourth rotation, during which JJ had sat and started icing her muscles as she wasn't competing on the vault, Simone was leading the standings, with Kyla just behind her, and Brenna Dowell in third. But those standings meant nothing until after the second night of competition; if they couldn't hit it twice in a row, they couldn't handle the pressure.

Only a month left until the Worlds selection camp, and JJ was ready for anything.

* * *

 **Skill Guide**

 _Pak salto_ – from a backwards (swinging facing forward, if the gymnast releases into a flip, they rotate backwards) giant facing the low bar, the gymnast drives their feet into the air, releases the high bar, and flips their body beneath their legs so that they are essentially diving towards the lowbar. _*One of the first skills I ever learned to identify by sight*_


	29. Chapter 29

**A/N: Currently constructing routines using the Code of Points, you have no idea how difficult this is.**

* * *

" _We're having a break right now in the middle of the second night of competition, and so we're gonna head down to the floor with Andrea Joyce, where she has got all five of the Fierce Five back together!"_

"Thanks Al, I'm here with the golden girls of the London Olympics, it's the first time they've all been back together since the end of the Kellogg's tour. Girls, how does it feel to be back together again?"

"Oh, amazing," Aly said, at the same that McKayla chimed in with "so good!"

"And three of you are competing here tonight, JJ, Kyla, McKayla... does it feel different being back here after the Olympic Games?"

"It's a little different, I think we all have our own high expectations now after the success we had in London, I know I've had to remind myself to slow down and just take it easy with the big skills for now," JJ laughed. "But it's so much fun, and getting to share the experiences we've had with the girls who are coming up is really nice, it's helping to gear them up for the years to come"

"Do you think we'll see the Fierce Five in Rio?" Andrea asked.

The five girls all looked at each other with nervous grins, before McKayla decided to speak up.

"I don't know about them, but I'll be there to get that vault gold," she said defiantly, making the other four laugh.

"Alright girls, thanks for speaking today, and JJ, McKayla, Kyla, good luck for the rest of competition!"

* * *

Simone Biles was the newly crowned all-around national champion, which hadn't been a surprise to any of the girls after seeing her routines on night 2. Kyla had taken the silver, with Brenna Dowell finishing out the podium with bronze.

JJ had retained her status as national champion on the balance beam, with McKayla doing the same for vault and also adding a floor title to her record. Kyla, meanwhile, had taken out the title on the uneven bars and come in just behind JJ on beam, with Simone finishing just behind her older compatriots on all four events.

The National Team had been named, and it was no surprise to anyone that the four title winners had made the team. JJ hadn't been able to fight away the ear to ear grin as they all had their photo taken in their national team gear and holding their plaques.

It was a while later that JJ finally got to see her parents, but when she did, it was all smiles.

"Oh sweetheart, so proud of you. You were brilliant," Michael said warmly, pulling JJ into a tight hug when she reached them.

"Back to business hey?" her mom joked as she turned to hug her after letting go of her dad.

JJ nodded. "Worlds selection camp at the end of September. And hopefully, after that, Worlds"

"Guess we better start looking at tickets to Belgium," Michael chuckled, draping an arm around JJ's shoulders as they started to walk through the foyer to the exit.

"Some things never change," Sandy said with a smile.

And even though they had spent the majority of the last four years travelling around to watch JJ compete... she wouldn't have changed it for the world.

* * *

"I think I'm gonna have to take up a sport and start winning everywhere I go, you're making me look real pathetic over here"

JJ laughed at Will's quip, flopping down beside him on the bed and closing her eyes. It was nice to be home, but she was exhausted. Thankfully, Nick had given her a few days to rest before they resumed training for the camp.

"In all seriousness, you are killing it this year. I'm proud of you"

Opening her eyes, JJ smiled up at Will, a hint of a blush creeping onto her cheeks.

"Thanks," she said softly. "It's been hard, but it's worth it"

Will smiled for a moment, before leaning down and pressing a kiss to JJ's lips. She reciprocated by wrapping an arm around the back of his neck, her other hand resting against his chest.

"I love you," she whispered in between kisses.

"Mm... I love you too," Will replied happily.

They stayed in their own little bubble, oblivious to the world around them, content to do nothing more than just be with each other for the rare moment in time when there was nothing else to worry them.


	30. Chapter 30

**A/N: Bit of lighthearted fun at the end!**

* * *

"Push!"

With ferocity in her eyes, JJ threw her hands towards the low bar, catching it nearly perfectly before swinging into a smooth and controlled kip.

"Good! Now slow down, keep it controlled!"

Half turn, shoot to the high bar. And...

THWACK!

Her outstretched fingers had barely grazed the bar, sending her crashing onto her knees.

"Ugh," JJ groaned, staying on the ground for a moment and hanging her head.

This bars routine was going to be the death of her. She'd messed up her Pak at Nationals, and now she was not getting anywhere near enough height to catch her shoot up to the high bar. This was the second time in the last half hour that she had fallen on it.

"Take a deep breath," Nick said gently as she pulled herself up off the floor. "Think back to the last time your bars felt amazing"

That was easy. The Olympics.

"Before you remount... imagine that moment. Allow it to fill you up," Nick continued. "Take your time. There's no time limit for bars, which means there's no reason to rush. Extend through every motion before you move onto the next"

Nodding, JJ wiped her brow with the back of her hand, taking a deep breath just like Nick had told her to.

While her bars in the Olympic event final had been the best of her career, her all-around routine had felt incredible from start to finish.

Closing her eyes, she took a moment to calm her racing heart, allowing her mind to sink back to that day in early August. She focused on the pink that had surrounded her as she stood waiting to be given her green light, on the calm support Gabby had offered from the sidelines, the crystal studded purple leotard that had made them feel like nothing could touch them.

The routine that had followed had been nothing short of incredible. She had felt weightless... like she could soar over the bar as if gravity couldn't touch her.

 _As if gravity couldn't touch her._

Opening her eyes again, she honed in on the bar in front of her.

'I'm going to own you,' she thought determinedly, before holding her hands to bar, jumping off the ground, and remounting with a glide kip.

She went through the first parts of her routine, fully extending each skill before moving to the next. Her Tkatchev was high and flighty. Her Pak soared, her hands grasping the bar as she pulled herself down into the kip.

" _Nice! You got it!" Gabby called as JJ moved fluidly from her Pak into her kip._

"Breathe and control it JJ!" Nick called.

Half turn. Underswing. Push the legs to straddle and shoot!

" _Push it up!" Aly's voice rang out from somewhere in the crowd, acting like the wind beneath her wings as she stretched out for the high bar._

She caught the bar so easily that she nearly let go in disbelief. But never one to falter for no reason, she grit her teeth and swung through, continuing up into handstand.

A giant swing into a single flyaway flip, put to her feet with a smile on her face. Turning around, she grinned at Nick.

"I'll make an Olympic bars champion out of you yet," Nick laughed. "Good job! Your form is really improving on bars, I'm impressed. We just need to hammer _that_ kind of consistency into your head forever"

"We'll get there," JJ said optimistically.

Nick nodded. "We sure will. Alright. I want ten pit crawls, and then you can go home. I'll see you at 1"

* * *

" _Aww, my sweet shy little JJ is off to Worlds camp to be one of the big girls!"_

"I will fly to Boston just to smack you," JJ laughed, running her fingers through her damp hair.

Aly laughed along with her. _"Sure you will"_

"Don't underestimate me Alexandra, your sweet shy 'not a great all-arounder' JJ has five medals in case you've forgotten"

" _Haha, you're going to be rubbing that one in the haters' faces for years, aren't you?"_

"You bet I am," JJ chuckled.

" _So... how's things with loverboy? Is he gonna miss you while you're away raking in the hardware?"_

"I'd hope so," JJ laughed. "And I wouldn't be so sure about raking in the hardware, I mean, have you _seen_ Simone? That kid has no fear. She just throws herself in the air and somehow finds the ground again. Do you know what would happen if I threw a double double Aly? I would DIE"

Aly laughed. _"She is pretty awesome, but she's got a long way to go in terms of form and control. I could see her being world champ on floor this year though"_

"Yeah"

" _And you'll be world champ on beam"_

"Can you like, not jinx it please? I haven't even left for the freaking selection camp yet!"

Aly chuckled. _"Ok, ok"_

"You still doing those classes at Babson?"

" _Yeah, I've been using my spare time to further my business prospects... rather than tying up a boyfriend in my bedroom"_

JJ's jaw dropped as she burst out laughing. "Can you keep it down, my mom is like two rooms away. And we do not tie each other up"

Aly giggled, a cheeky grin on her face. _"I'm just joking, what you two get up to in the bedroom is not my concern. And I thought you said your mom knew?"_

"Yeah, she worked it out in like... June. Doesn't mean she needs to hear you suggesting we're into BDSM or something like that," JJ laughed. "God Aly, you're a loose cannon"

" _You're just easy to tease, and I'm bored,"_ Aly said with a laugh.

Looking at her watch, JJ sighed. She hated cutting their calls short.

"I gotta go Aly, I've got training at 1"

" _Go be amazing like I know you are. Break the beam! Own the bars! Don't die!"_

JJ laughed. "Great pep talk. I'll text you later"

" _I love you and miss you!"_

Beaming, JJ made a heart with her hands. "Love and miss you too!"

And with that, yet another of their conversations was over.


	31. Chapter 31

**A/N: Short chapter but enjoy!**

 **Also, FMG has been nominated for a Profiler's Choice Award, I promise I'll update soon with the details!**

* * *

Fall had arrived, and that meant the Worlds selection camp was underway. All the girls were excited to see each other again, but with the World Championships just over the horizon, Marta was working them harder than ever.

Day in and day out, the girls were in the gym, working their routines until they could do them with their eyes closed. Problem sections were worked until they were no longer problems, or altered so that they were immediately manageable.

As the end of the camp drew closer, the energy amongst the girls began to wane; they were all tired, but for some, especially the younger seniors, it was all worth it for that first chance at the World Championships.

JJ was in a room with Kyla and McKayla, but their exhaustion from training meant there wasn't much time for them to be catching up; most of their free time was spent sleeping.

Finally, the day arrived when the four girls travelling to Worlds would be named.

After a solid day of training, the girls lined up along the edge of the floor, shortest to tallest, Marta standing before them.

"As you know, this year is just individual competitions at Worlds. That makes choosing this team quite hard. But, I feel I have chosen the four strongest girls to compete in Antwerp"

Smiling, Marta looked along the line of girls.

"Competing all-around at Worlds will be Simone Biles and Kyla Ross"

Simone broke into a huge grin, as did Kyla, both of them looking as though they were fighting to contain their excitement.

"Competing all events except vault will be Jennifer Jareau"

JJ felt all the tension leave her body as she relaxed into a smile. She was thrilled. Her comeback after the Olympics was proving to be a success.

And better yet, she now knew who the fourth girl was going to be. Only one place was left for competition, and that was on vault. Meaning...

"And McKayla Maroney will be competing on the vault. Brenna Dowell will the non-travelling alternate"

As Marta spoke a little more about how the girls who hadn't made the cut would have plenty more opportunities to compete on the big stage, JJ looked up and caught Nick's eye. He gave her an excited smile, followed by a thumbs up.

She'd done it.

* * *

"Mom? Is Dad there too?"

" _Yeah honey, he's right here and you're on speaker. How's camp?"_

JJ smiled. "Well... I'd say it's gone pretty good considering I'm going to Worlds"

Her dad's cheer of joy rang out loud and clear.

" _Really JJ? That's amazing, well done!"_ her mom gushed as Michael let out a 'woop!' in the background.

JJ laughed. "Dad sounds excited"

" _I am excited! You're gonna kill it my girl!"_

"Thanks Dad"

" _Who else is going?"_ Sandy asked.

"Kyla and McKayla, and Simone, the girl who won the all-around at Nationals"

" _Oh she's a little firecracker isn't she?"_ Michael chuckled.

JJ laughed. "You have _no_ idea"

" _Well I guess we'd better get some flights to Antwerp then. Oh, I'm so proud of you JJ, all your hard work has paid off,"_ her mom said sweetly.

JJ beamed. Her parents had offered nothing but unconditional love and support over her entire career, and that wasn't changing now, even though she was about to put them through the whole cycle again.

It was all she could ask from them.


	32. Chapter 32

**A/N: I loved writing this chapter!**

* * *

"JJ?"

Lifting her head from where she'd been resting it against the wall of the plane, JJ turned to Simone, who was looking at her expectantly.

"Yeah?"

"What's it like to compete at Worlds?" Simone asked softly.

They were cruising through the air over the Atlantic Ocean, enroute to Antwerp, Belgium. The plane was quiet inside; after the meal service, most people had settled in to try and get some rest.

Across the aisle, McKayla was sleeping while Kyla watched a movie on her screen. On the other side of the plane, Aimee and Nick were talking softly, while Jenny (Kyla's coach), Artur (McKayla's coach), and the remaining USA staff (including Marta) were in various stages of sleep or relaxation.

"Worlds is... incredible. At Worlds, you truly compete against the best in the world, because most federations send their best athletes, whereas at the Olympics, they might not be able to send someone. It's just an awesome atmosphere, because you know the crowd has bought the tickets out of a genuine interest in the sport, and everyone's excited... and at the end of it, if you can say you're World Champion, that's pretty amazing," JJ said with a smile.

"You're World beam champion, right?" Simone asked.

"Currently. I'd like to defend that title, but you never know who's going to come out guns absolutely blazing"

"And McKayla is the vault champion"

JJ nodded. "What are your favourite events?"

"Vault and floor," Simone replied instantly. "I'd like to win world titles on them one day... and maybe beam too," she said with a glint in her eye.

"Watch it, I'll push you off," JJ joked, but Simone immediately looked taken aback.

"Sorry... something Aly and I always say to each other. I forget other people say normal stuff to each other," she chuckled. Simone relaxed, breaking into a grin.

"I always forget you two are really good friends. What was that like, going to the Olympics with your best friend?"

"Uh, amazing?" JJ giggled. "We were roommates in the village, and shared the podium three times in our third year competing together, like it was just honestly so awesome"

The conversation fell into a lull for a few moments before Simone spoke up again.

"Aly's the one that gives you heaps about your boyfriend, right?"

JJ grinned. "You've been chatting to McKayla I see"

Simone laughed.

"But yes, Aly does give me loads of crap about him. All in good nature. She was doing it for ages before we even got together, it's like second nature for her now. If she _doesn't_ find some way to tease me, I wonder if she's feeling alright"

Simone giggled. "It must be so nice to have a boyfriend and be able to balance all that with all your training. Like, I'm not really fussed about boys right now, I've got bigger things to do, like getting to 2016, but yeah, it must be nice"

"It is, and it isn't at times. Will and I were best friends for _years_ before we got together, and I mean years as in we've been friends since elementary school. So he's known me through this entire process, and the training and long hours and the weeks at camp are nothing new to him, which is good. But, I always feel guilty when I haven't seen him for ages, more than I used to when we were just friends, because I feel like he expects to see me more now? I don't know," JJ shrugged. "It's weird, but it's good, if you get what I mean"

Simone nodded. "My younger sister is starting to get all boy crazy and I'm like 'Adria, they're not worth the time!'"

JJ laughed. "I used to think that. That boys were just big, sweaty, and useless. But Will's a sweetheart"

"My brothers are big and sweaty, but they come to all my meets, so they're not that useless," Simone giggled.

JJ had to laugh. "How many siblings do you have?"

"Five. There's Ashley and Tevin, who I don't see as often because they grew up with my dad's sister, and then Adria, Ron Jr, and Adam. But Ron and Adam are grown up and don't live at home anymore. Even so, they come to all my competitions," Simone explained.

JJ frowned. "You said Ashley and Tevin lived with your dad's sister?"

"Oh! I forget to fully explain that," Simone grinned. "Ashley, Tevin, Adria and I are all adopted. Apparently my birth mom had a lot of problems and couldn't take care of us properly. So my grandad – her dad – and his wife adopted me and Adria, while our older siblings went to live with our aunt"

"Wow, ok," JJ said in surprise.

"Yeah. That's been my life ever since. They're Mom and Dad, they've given us a completely normal life, and that's just how it's always been for me, so I don't really make a big deal of it"

"That's good," JJ affirmed.

"What about you, what's your family like?" Simone asked.

"Well, I have an older brother, Jason, who also lives out of home. He doesn't come to all my meets, but he did come to the Olympics last summer, which was really good. And... I have a sister, Rosaline, but she passed away eight years ago," JJ said softly.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Simone said sincerely.

JJ shrugged. "It's ok, it was a long time ago. Besides me and my brother, it's just my parents. You've probably seen my dad on the elite meet coverage, because he's nuts and jumps around like a maniac when he gets excited, which is ALL. THE. TIME"

Simone laughed. "Actually, I think NBC had a side by side of your dad and Aly's parents in London"

JJ had to laugh as well. "Oh god, I need to find that and show it to him"

"What about your mom?"

"My mom is super supportive as well, but she contains it better than my dad. She's the crier. He was the one cheering and hugging and high fiving when I won gold in London, and my mom was the one who cried and called me that night to tell me how proud she was of me. They're a complete contrast to each other and it's good because that way I'm not overloaded with just one type of supporter," JJ chuckled.

"My parents are pretty calm. That might change in Belgium though, since it's my first big meet," Simone said.

"You know, you don't sound nervous about Worlds at all. Not that that's a bad thing!"

Simone shook her head. "I'm not really that nervous. I just like doing gymnastics, I have fun doing it, so I'm looking forward to doing it here"

JJ grinned, clearly impressed.

"Girl, you'll make it all the way to Rio with that attitude"


	33. Chapter 33

**A/N: Gymfans will know exactly what's going on with the name mispronunciations hahaha.**

* * *

The arena was abuzz with activity as the girls stood lined up on the edge of the podiums before the judges.

JJ's stomach was twisted with excitement. It hadn't hit her until they had walked in earlier that afternoon, but after a year of trying to make it back after the high of the Olympics, here she was, at her third World Championships.

"Ladies and gentleman... opening the women's qualifications on the vault... representing the United States of America... Seamoney Biles!"

Grinning at the innocent mispronunciation of her name, Simone stepped forward, waving to the crowd.

"Jennifer Jarrah!"

Breaking into a smile as Simone giggled beside her, JJ also stepped up and gave the crowd a wave. Her cheer was slightly larger than Simone's; she could see a lot of American flags waving back at her, and most of them had likely seen the Olympics.

"McKayla Maroney!"

McKayla beamed, giving a courteous wave to all sides of the arena.

"And Kyla Ross!"

Ever the classy young lady, Kyla smiled politely, waving as she was cheered on by their American supporters.

It was a few minutes before every gymnast in the room had been announced, and then the warmup time commenced. As she wasn't competing vault, JJ left the podium, pulling her warm-up trackpants back on and grabbing her grips bag from her backpack.

Warmups passed quickly, and soon, McKayla was off.

Her Amanar was high and flighty, just as McKayla was known for doing. It scored an easy 15.850, meaning as long as she landed her second vault on her feet, she would quite easily be into the vault final.

And the second vault went to her feet with no problems, making JJ and the girls cheer from the sidelines. It earned a solid 15.433, putting a beaming smile onto McKayla's face.

Simone was next, with Kyla to follow. Her vaulting had been explosive, like McKayla's, with a little more untidiness in the legs than McKayla had shown. Her second vault wasn't as difficult as McKayla's, but she was still able to secure second in the vault standings for the time being.

Kyla's DTY was beautiful and solid, nothing less than anyone expected of her. Happy with her work, Kyla had left the podium with a smile to start preparing for uneven bars.

* * *

Done for the day after vault, McKayla had elected herself as each girl's personal cheerleader after that.

JJ had put up a surprisingly solid routine on bars, after using Nick's trick of imagining her routine from London. It had played out beautifully, with stretched toes, caught releases, and only a small hop on the landing, meaning that she was almost guaranteed to make the bars final, given the relatively weak field that year.

Kyla was up next with one of her standard robotically beautiful routines. She made it look as though it was easy to fly from one bar to the other, her toes remaining pointed, her feet glued together. Not one part of the routine had given her trouble, and it had earned her a generous applause from the audience.

Simone had gone last. Her weakness on bars was apparent to her teammates, but to the untrained eye, it looked as good as any. She dismounted with a trademark smile, happy with the effort she had put up.

Now that the nerves were out of the way, their final two events looked promising.

* * *

They had killed it on beam, and now, as the last American to go on floor, JJ was ready to show the world that she could be amazing on more than just her pet event.

"On floor for USA, Jennifer Jarrah!"

Fighting back a laugh at the mispronunciation of her surname, JJ saluted the judges before getting into her opening pose.

" _That announcer is having no luck with Simone and JJ's names, at least they find the humor in it. But now, JJ has floor, and she's generally quite good on it, but she's been struggling this year in her comeback"_

The lively music of _Carnaval de Paris_ filled the arena, encouraging the crowd to start clapping straight away. Dancing her way towards the corner, she took off and headed straight into her opening pass, the ever dreaded double layout.

But today, it wasn't dreaded. In fact, it went straight to her feet with absolutely no problems.

" _Wow!"_

"Yeah JJ! Nice!" she heard Simone yell from the sidelines as she turned and took off into her next pass, the triple full. Perhaps a little underotated, but she covered it well.

" _Just a little underrotated on the twists there, had to take a little hop to right herself, but not a major mistake!"_

Her dance was expressive, her leaps high, and her turns perfectly on balance. Her routine was on _fire_ , and the last time it had felt this good, she had been on her way to Olympic silver.

Her full in was high from the floor, surprising her to the point where she nearly dropped in from too high, but again, her experience allowed her to cover the landing.

" _She was SO high on that pass, wow! I don't think I've ever seen JJ fly like that on floor!"_

A little more choreography carried her into her double pike, which she landed with a little bit of a low chest, but she was still beaming from ear to ear when she struck her final pose to excited applause.

" _And there we have it folks! A great routine for Jennifer Jareau means the Americans are done for the day, and what a day they have had!"_

"You scared yourself on your full-in didn't you?" Nick laughed as JJ came down the stairs.

"Yes! I came out of the second flip and I was so high, I nearly crapped myself," JJ replied, laughing as Simone gave her a hug.

"You had a little bit of Simone in you there. I saw you mid-flip, I was like 'wow she's high up' and then I saw you kind of freak it a bit on the landing, but you covered it well. That was a really nice routine for you," Nick said warmly.

"Alright girls, let's get our stuff together for the end of session"

* * *

The standings were in.

Simone and Kyla had respectively qualified into the top two all-around spots for the final, with Simone also taking out the top spot on floor and the second spot on vault.

Kyla had also qualified to the uneven bars final and the balance beam final, only just edging out Simone in beam.

McKayla had, of course, taken top standing in vault, with JJ doing the same on beam. JJ herself had also qualified just behind Kyla for bars, and just behind Simone for floor, meaning it was shaping up to be a successful Worlds for the American cohort.

They just couldn't wait to get started on raking in the hardware.


	34. Chapter 34

**A/N: Been doing fantasy gym lineups all day, STUH-RESSFUL!**

* * *

" _Here in Antwerp, Belgium, you're watching the 2013 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships, and we're here for the women's all-around in which we will crown the best of the best in gymnastics. America's Jordyn Wieber won the title at the last World Championships in 2011, but this year, the battle for which American will come out on top is between 2012 Olympic gold medallist, Kyla Ross, and new senior, Simone Biles"_

" _There are a few contenders in the mix this year. Romania's Larisa Iordache is looking quite strong, as is Russia's Aliya Mustafina, who finished fourth behind Jennifer Jareau in the all-around at last year's Olympic Games. Shang Chunsong of China is at her first Worlds this year and she's qualified into the top six, so the top group is looking really stacked this year"_

It was already Simone's turn to vault, with the final already underway, and JJ and McKayla were on the edge of their seats watching their teammates compete.

JJ hadn't experienced much of this side of international competition – at last year's Olympics, she'd been competing in the second and third day of finals, and so had only watched day one from the stands.

"Come on Simone!" McKayla yelled, while JJ let out a whoop as Simone saluted the judges.

And off she went, her hot pink leotard like a bright flash down the runway as she flew into her vault, rocketing off the table into a beautifully powerful Amanar.

Her landing wasn't perfect, but the rest of the vault was pretty darn close. Kyla had gone previously with her standard solid DTY, scoring a solid number to hold her in the lead for the time being.

" _Nice vault for Simone, she can do it a little better in fact, but that should be a nice high score to start off her day"_

Simone's score came in, a 15.850 to take the lead and widen the smile on the young girl's face. McKayla and JJ cheered up in the stands, waving around their little USA flags to show Simone and Kyla they were supporting them all the way.

" _Looks like the Americans are going to lead this competition!"_

* * *

Bars had been interesting. Kyla had remained fairly solid, but due to her lower start value, Simone had dropped in the standings at the end of the rotation. The two Chinese girls, Yao Jinnan and Shang Chunsong, had moved up a few places, which was expected.

Beam had been the undoing of many a gymnast. Larisa Iordache had come off on her back tuck full, the same skill she had fallen on in the beam final at the Olympics. Shang Chunsong had fallen off on her layout at the end of her flight series, and Aliya Mustafina had wobbled her way through a shaky routine. It had seriously levelled out the top contenders as they headed into the final rotation, and even JJ and McKayla were feeling the pressure as spectators.

Bars and beam had passed without incident for the two Americans, and going into floor, Kyla was leading the pack. However, the margin wasn't great; if both girls did their absolute best on floor, they would be neck and neck to the very end.

Kyla was first of the two girls. Her routine was classic, dramatic, and oh so Kyla. Robotically beautiful, she made up in performance value what she lacked in difficulty. Her tumbling, while not so difficult, was clean and tidy, just what the execution panel was looking for. She finished with a smile, knowing she had done her routine the best she could possibly do.

" _That should be enough for Kyla to medal for sure, but at this rate, because of the difficulty, she's going to need Simone to make a few mistakes"_

" _Anything could happen"_

Simone was up next, and her beaming smile lit up the entire building as she took her starting pose on the floor.

"Come on Simone, you got it!" JJ called as McKayla waved around her flag.

Simone's upbeat music filled the air as she took off into her first tumbling run, a double double. She cleared the flips easily with a ton of height to spare, and landed with a sizeable jump backwards to catch herself. Her leap series carried her to the adjacent corner, before she took off again, this time into the Biles; a move Simone had submitted prior to competition and now had named for her.

" _Woah!"_

Her jumps were high, almost her own height off the ground, her tumbling was fiercely powerful, and her smile never left her face. Her 2.5 twist to punch layout was so clean and so high that JJ and McKayla had now risen from their seats and were cheering excitedly, because, surely, their young superstar teammate was just one tumble away from being the world all-around champion.

And she was, because her full twisting double tuck came out with a bang, and Simone finished the exercise with a smile larger than life as the crowd cheered ecstatically.

"YEAH! WOOO!" McKayla cheered as Simone skipped down from the podium and hugged Aimee and then Kyla.

"She's amazing!" JJ gushed.

It wasn't long for her score to come in, and when it did, the American supporters in the crowd went wild.

Simone was world champion, clear of Kyla by almost a full point.

A few rows above them, JJ could see Simone's parents, Nellie and Ron, and her sister, Adria, hugging as the tears flowed. Her heart swelled for them. She knew her parents had been ecstatic the day she won her first world title with the team, and hoped Ron and Nellie would cherish every moment, every bit of excitement Simone's win was going to bring their way.

It was beautiful seeing hard work pay off. And while for JJ, McKayla, and Kyla, it had paid off in the biggest achievement of all, the Olympic Games, World Championships were just as important.

Besides, JJ thought, Simone wasn't at her full potential yet. She had a feeling big things were coming for the springy little girl from Spring, Texas.


	35. Chapter 35

**A/N: Enjoy!**

* * *

Finishing top two in the all-around clearly wasn't enough for the American girls, because after the vault final had breezed through on the first day of competition, McKayla and Simone had taken gold and silver respectively. McKayla had flown incredibly high, her vaulting exactly reminiscent of the gymnastics that had made her famous in London. Her form was gorgeous, her landings crisp, and her confidence on fire as she vaulted her way to her second consecutive world vault title.

Simone had been on her heels the whole way, managing two very well executed vaults as her bid in the final. However, due to her lower difficulty on her second vault than McKayla displayed, the silver was just about the highest she could reach for. But nonetheless, a gold and a silver at her first world championships was nothing to be disappointed about, and Simone had beamed throughout the entire medal ceremony.

Just an hour later, JJ and Kyla had taken part in the uneven bars final.

JJ had been feeling a little nervous during the announcement to the crowd; she wanted to do well, but she had some stiff competition, especially in the two Chinese girls, and Aliya Mustafina, the reigning Olympic Champion on uneven bars.

But some of those nerves had ebbed away as she watched Yao Jinnan, the first competitor, fall from the bars following her Mo salto. The hardest skill in the final had not been completed, and the door was now open for the others to step up their game.

JJ had gone first of the two Americans. The quiet arena had helped her focus on the apparatus, focus on putting up the best score she could muster. She already had Olympic bars bronze... it was now the time to prove she had rightfully earned it. She had to back it up.

Her routine had gone without a hitch, with only a few minor form breaks pestering various parts of the exercise. Her Pak and her shoot hadn't been issues as they had been on and off in training all year. By the time she landed with a stuck double layout, she was smiling so widely she felt like her face was going to crack. It inevitably earned a 15.100, which was low for what she was capable of, but great compared to the field that year.

Kyla had followed, wasting no time in mounting the bars to deliver her standard robotically beautiful bars routine. Her form was almost flawless, and JJ couldn't take her eyes off her friend. If only she could swing bars like that.

Kyla had almost nailed the landing on her dismount, smiling just as widely as JJ had when she saluted the judges. And it rightfully earned a great score – a 15.266.

Chattering away excitedly, they had hardly noticed the routines that followed save for a few minor details; Becky Downie of Great Britain had had a great set, right up until the swing before the dismount when she'd become unhinged on a pirouette and fallen from the high bar. Sophie Scheder of Germany had hit a superb routine, but hadn't scored high enough to break into the medals. Aliya Mustafina had performed beautifully, but just failed to miss JJ's score, having to settle for fourth, much to the American team's surprise. And lastly, Ruby Harrold, also of Great Britain, had hit a wonderful set with a quirky transition known as a Zuchold.

But at the end of the final, the medals were determined. Huang Huidan of China would take gold. Kyla would be taking silver, and JJ, much to her own delight, had earned herself another bronze.

Day two of competition brought the last of the finals. For the women, that meant beam and floor.

Beam was JJ's pet event, but this year, it was the most pressure packed. She was the reigning World and Olympic champion on the event, and therefore, she knew she was expected to deliver again. She knew she could deliver a brilliant routine, but would it be enough to hold a lead over the other girls?

So she had mounted that beam with confidence. If she was going for the gold, she had to make sure the margin held every tenth she could muster.

Layout flight series? Good. Leap series? Beautiful. Turns? Solid.

When she dismounted with her full twisting double tuck, she was ecstatic. At this lower difficulty level, it was the best routine she had ever done. Earning herself a 15.133, she was easily into the lead.

Most of the final had been a bit of a blur to her. She had noticed Aliya's gorgeous beam at the start of the final, which had earned a 14.900 to sit just behind JJ. Kyla had also done very well, securing herself a 14.833 after an enquiry to hold onto third place. Larisa Iordache of Romania was expected to challenge, but had conceded that idea after falling on her full twisting tuck, the same skill she had fallen on in the Olympic final the previous year.

None of the other girls had managed to match the top three, and so it was that JJ came away with her second world beam title and a smile that stretched from ear to ear as she headed into the floor finals.

Floor had been no contest. It was Simone's from the beginning. Her routine was electric, inviting the crowd to cheer and clap along as she flipped and danced her way to her second world title. Vanessa Ferrari of Italy had been hoping to take a world floor title, but once Simone had stepped up to the podium, there was no contest.

JJ's had been upbeat and lively as well, the crowd joining in and clapping along for parts of it. She had finished with a smile on her face, content with the knowledge that even if she didn't medal there, she was still coming home with two medals.

But she did. Tying with Larisa Iordache, she earned herself a second bronze, a third medal behind Ferrari and Simone. Her Worlds had ended on a good note, and even though it had been a long year of trying to make it back, she was filled with renewed energy.

She couldn't wait to get back in the gym and start working on her upgrades for next season.

* * *

 **Skill Guide**

 _Mo salto –_ from a backwards giant, the gymnast kicks their feet up over the high bar, releases the bar, and executes a tucked front flip before recatching the same bar. First performed by Mo Huilan of China. Has only ever been performed by Chinese gymnasts in international competition.

 _Zuchold –_ facing away from the low bar, the gymnast brings her legs up through pike, in between her arms, pushing her body to a straight position before releasing the high bar. She catches the low bar in a handstand position.


	36. Chapter 36

**A/N: Short, but sweet**

* * *

"There's my world champion!"

The words were like music to her ears as she dropped her bags and walked straight into Will's arms, her smile wider than ever as he hugged her tightly.

"I missed you... you were amazing in Belgium," he said softly. "I'm so proud of you"

JJ was still beaming as she pulled out of the hug, leaning in for a quick kiss. Behind her, Nick cleared his throat, grinning as JJ turned around with a slight blush in her cheeks.

"I'll be heading off now. You're back next...?"

"Wednesday," JJ said with a smile.

"I still think you should have taken a longer break, but if you want to keep going, that's up to you," Nick replied, stepping forward and giving JJ a quick hug. "You did great in Belgium, kid, I'm proud of you"

"Thanks," JJ responded, giving her coach a happy smile and a wave as he hoisted up his bags and headed towards the exit of the terminal.

Turning back to Will, she smiled seductively. "My parents' flight got delayed... they won't be home until early tomorrow morning. Which means..."

Will's lips quirked into an excited smile. "I've got you all to myself"

* * *

They had made love for what felt like hours upon arriving back to JJ's house, the passion rising between them at having been apart for so long. After that, they had slipped in and out of a restful sleep, talking, laughing and loving as they lay cuddled up in each other's arms.

Evening fell, and their stomachs were growling, so while Will sought about making them something to eat, JJ had decided to touch base with Aly again. She didn't expect Aly to pick up on the first ring.

" _AYYY IT'S MY BEST FRIEND. THE TWO TIME WOOOOOORLD CHAMPION!"_

Both JJ and Will burst out laughing at Aly's dramatic answering the phone.

"It's actually three time world champion, if you remember correctly," JJ grinned.

" _Oh crap, yeah, team title. Oh well. Two time world beam champion! Wooo! I'm so proud of you, I knew you could restake your claim!"_

JJ laughed. "Thanks Aly"

" _You four were incredible! Four of five gold medals between the four of you, and oh, my, god, Simone was-"_

"AMAZING?" JJ cried, as they both laughed. "She was so consistent! And so clean, I couldn't believe it. She's amazing!"

" _Tell me about it! And Kyla, oh my sweet Kyla getting all those medals. I hope she gets an individual gold next year"_

"I'm sure she will. On bars most likely," JJ replied.

" _Yeah. So is loverboy with you?"_

"Yes he is, and you're on speaker," JJ giggled as Will turned and flexed his biceps. "He's just showing off for me now"

" _Probably because it gets you going"_

"Aly!" JJ exclaimed, her cheeks turning red as Will laughed. "I never said... that's not what I said... Alexandra Raisman!"

Aly could only laugh as Will walked over to JJ, leaning over the counter so he was quite close to her.

"Gets you going huh?"

"That's not what I said," JJ said, a shy giggle escaping her lips as Will leaned in further and kissed her deeply.

A few moments silence passed before Aly broke the loved up bubble.

" _If you two are going to do it, please kindly hang up on me first"_

"It's fine Aly," JJ laughed as she and Will broke apart.

" _Changing the subject, I hear you're going back to the gym really soon. Aren't you taking a break?"_

"I'm doing basically half the intensity of training I'd be doing normally, and Nick also wants me to take a week or two off in the New Year, and I'll start going full out after then. It'll all work out"

" _Well, I look forward to seeing what you come out with at the Classic next year. And guess what?"_

"What?"

" _Someone else is going back to the gym next year"_

"YOU?!" JJ shrieked.

" _Yes!"_

JJ's smile could've lit up a city in a power outage. "That's the best news ever! I'm so excited for you!"

" _Thanks JJ. I've missed it. I've missed you girls, competing with you all... I miss seeing my best friend every month. I can't wait to see what my future in gym holds"_

"Me too Aly. Me too"


	37. Chapter 37

**A/N: Shakin' it up!**

* * *

The air outside was relatively cool, but the air in the gym was heavy with chalk. Numbers of young girls in their level classes worked relentlessly on their skills as young coaches watched over them with a keen eye. It was abuzz with noise, the gymnasts chattering as they waited their turn.

JJ was working with Nick, in a small mixed group of girls who were either Level 10 or in the stages of qualifying to elite. Currently, JJ was Nick's only elite gymnast, but Nick had high hopes that JJ's level of success would inspire other girls in the gym to work just as hard.

Focused only on her own skills rather than the noise and chaos around her, she worked lightly through the gentler skills of her routine; other than her mount and dismount, she and Nick didn't want to work the harder skills just yet. They would be added in due time.

She was practicing her switch leaps from one end of the beam to the other when one of the young coaches, Lisa, who was acting as admin staff for the day, approached Nick.

"Nick, we're having trouble with the classes for tomorrow... because of James calling in sick and having to reschedule his groups? We've now got way too many kids in one block, it'll be chaos," she said, a hint of frustration hanging about her voice.

"Let me take a look at it. We'll figure something out," Nick replied, making to follow her back to the office, before turning back.

"Elliott!" he called, waving over one of the male coaches. Elliott was in his mid twenties, and coached at the gym in between training his way to the elite level of men's trampolining. He was a friendly guy who was liked by pretty much everyone in the gym, and was one of Nick's most trusted assistant coaches.

"Yeah?"

"Can you just keep an eye on the kids here while I help Lisa with the scheduling? And give JJ a spot if she needs it," Nick said.

"Sure," Elliott replied with a smile, taking over Nick's place leaning against the crash mats as the older coach left with Lisa to go to the office.

Unfazed by the coaching change, which was a common occurrence during busy days, JJ continued to train the dance elements of her routine, before throwing a back handspring to keep her muscle memory limber and ready to go.

A back tuck, a pike jump, an attempt at a double turn which led to her falling to the floor. Calm and confident, she soldiered through it all, making sure each movement was exact and precise.

When she'd had enough of that, she jumped off the beam, heading to the end and dragging over another crash mat to soften the landing on the floor. Once she was happy with the two mats, she turned to Elliott.

"Can you spot me for a double tuck?" she asked with a smile.

"Sure thing, beam queen," Elliott replied with a grin, pushing off the stack he was leaning against and walking to stand by the end of JJ's beam.

JJ climbed back up, walking to the end of the beam and placing her feet on her chalk line. She took a deep breath, raising her arms up above her head, before swinging them down and then back into her first flip. It was easily followed by the second flip, and followed up with a high and flighty double tuck.

"What do you need a spot for?" Elliott laughed as she relaxed and walked back towards the beam.

"Well, I'm going for my full in, so I'd appreciate it if you hung around," JJ replied with a grin, pulling herself back up onto the apparatus.

Readying herself on the chalk line once more, she started to prepare to flip. But before she made a move, she glanced back at the end of the beam, making sure she really was the correct distance away from the end. Elliott was standing nearby, waiting patiently for her to execute the skill.

Swinging herself back, she flipped across the end of the beam. She punched away from the end, twisting her shoulders into the full twist. Her legs carried themselves into the tuck. Nothing felt out of the usual, and that was what JJ liked when she was getting back into it.

But halfway over, she saw Elliott start to dive towards her. It took her a second to realise why, but as her muscle memory carried her into the second tuck and the mat beneath her came into her view, she realised why. Her punch hadn't been high enough, and she was going to come up short.

She pulled her knees in tighter, hoping to rotate faster and land on her ass, but inevitably, she crashed into the mat flat on her shins, her legs still tucked beneath her as Elliott flailed about in an attempt to catch her.

It would've been fine, except for the horrendous crack that sounded out the second she hit the mats.

* * *

Nick was hunched over his planner, exhaling in frustration as he tried to straighten out the following day's schedule when he heard the scream coming from the gym floor.

Both he and Lisa automatically straightened up, looking out the window towards the training floor. He could see the girls around the beams recoiling in shock, but both Elliott and JJ were obscured from view by a stack of hard rectangular mats.

"NICK!"

At Elliott's cry, Nick leapt into action, exiting the office and heading straight out towards the beams, with Lisa hot on his heels. His stomach was sinking the closer he got.

'Please let it be minor,' he thought as he climbed over the stack of mats and found JJ hunched over on the crash mat in panicked tears, her face whiter than the chalk on her hands. But as soon as he saw her, he knew it wasn't going to be minor.

"Something broke," JJ said through breathy tears, looking up at her coach with fear written all over her face. "My leg... just broke"

"Lisa, can you call an ambulance, and then call Sandy or Michael. Elliott, we need some ice and a couple of towels," Nick instructed calmly, placing a comforting hand on JJ's upper back as he knelt down beside her. The two younger coaches left without a word, while Nick dragged over a nearby foam block for JJ to rest her arms on, as they were shaking rather badly.

"I need everyone to clear the beams! If you're training beam, please move to the floor and work on the far two lines so as not to disrupt the kids on floor!" he called out, looking towards the visibly shaken kids who were waiting for instructions at the opposite end of the beams. He watched for a moment as they slowly walked off, before turning his attention back to JJ, who had calmed herself to the point where she was only crying softly.

"You're alright... I know you're in a lot of pain, but you'll be ok," he said gently as he guided JJ to lift her arms up to the block. "Do you think you can roll to lie on your side so that we can strap and ice your leg?"

"I don't know," JJ said in a panicked breath. "I don't want to move"

"I know, but we need to ice it. The paramedics are going to need you to move when they get here, and it'll be a lot easier for them if you're lying down," Nick explained softly.

JJ took a deep breath, swallowing back more tears before managing a brave nod.

"Hold onto me, and move at your own pace," Nick said, holding out his left arm, and keeping his right hand on JJ's upper back.

It took nearly five minutes, but with a decent amount of whimpering and grimacing, JJ managed to get herself lying on her side, her injured left leg now exposed. Nick could see swelling around the upper part of JJ's lower leg, but from what he could see, the skin was intact and her leg looked otherwise normal. That was a glimmer of hope.

At that point, Elliot finally returned with two large ice packs and two clean towels, handing them to Nick before kneeling up beside JJ's head and rubbing her upper arm as an act of comfort.

"The ambulance is on its way Nick, they'll be roughly fifteen minutes. I also got a hold of Michael, he says he'll be also be about fifteen minutes, but he's going to try and get here before the ambulance does," Lisa reported as she also returned. "I think it'll be easier if we open up the side door into the parking lot, don't you?"

"Yes," Nick agreed, as two other coaches approached the situation. "Dave, Tony, can you help Lisa open up the side door, and I'll need someone to wait by the road just to make sure the ambulance knows where to go"

The three nodded, heading off without further instruction.

JJ closed her eyes momentarily, trying to ignore the terrible pain in her left leg as she listened to the voices all around her. She took a deep breath, lifting one arm and draping it across her forehead as Nick pressed an icepack to her injured leg and covered it in a towel. It was ice cold, but a welcome distraction from the pain.

Her dad was coming. Words that made her feel calmer than ever. Even at nineteen, the comfort of her parents was one that was warmly welcomed in any situation.

She kept her eyes closed as the others talked around her, focusing on breathing in and out through her nose to keep from hyperventilating.

"Still with us JJ?" came Nick's voice after about five minutes of quiet chatter amongst the general noise of the gym. She nodded, taking a deep breath in as she did.

"You know, if you wanted to break something, I wouldn't have been mad if you broke the beam. I'd have much preferred that to your leg," Nick added, a teasing lilt floating through his voice. Despite the pain, JJ cracked a smile, making Nick and Elliott chuckle.

She opened her eyes, finding Nick looking down at her with a reassuring smile on his face.

"I'm still gonna be world champion this year," she said quietly, her voice barely above a whisper.

"Oh, I don't doubt that for a second kiddo," Nick agreed with a grin. "You'll be back in no time"

Minutes later, her dad's voice joined the noise around her. And then, he was beside her, kneeling down with a smile.

"Getting through the year injury free just isn't cutting it for you anymore, hey?" he teased gently, squeezing her hand. "You ok peanut?"

"Yeah," JJ said genuinely.

"There's a lot more colour in her face now," Nick pointed out.

"Ambulance is here!" Lisa called from over by the door.

And then the flurry of people around her was added to by paramedics. It was all a blur, but eventually, she had been given a starting dose of painkillers, strapped up in a splint, lifted onto a gurney, and loaded into the back of the ambulance.

As the ambulance slowly pulled away from the gym, her dad's car in tow, JJ closed her eyes and laid back against the gurney.

All would be ok. It wasn't even November yet.

If she wanted to make it back, she could.


	38. Chapter 38

**A/N: I'm going to the World Cup in a month AHHHH!**

* * *

"You have a mildly displaced clean break of your fibula," Dr Harrison said as he held JJ's X-rays up to the lightbox. "It's a fairly difficult bone to break in the way that you fell, so that alone has spared you from a more severe injury"

Turning back to JJ and her dad with an encouraging smile, he picked up his clipboard. "We'll need to realign the bone again to allow it to heal properly. Seeing as you're a high level athlete, the most beneficial course of action would be to insert two screws into the bone to hold it perfectly together. With that, the bone should be fully healed within eight to twelve weeks"

JJ nodded understandingly, watching tiredly as her dad stepped forward to read over the forms for the required surgery.

A few signatures, and then she was being prepared for surgery.

* * *

Her whole body felt heavy, but the first thing JJ registered as she started to come round was the fact that the pain in her leg had reduced to a dull ache.

As she started to wake up more, she was aware of someone gently stroking the top of her head. Fighting the grogginess, she managed to open her eyes, finding Will standing beside her bed with a smile on his face.

"Hey you. Was wondering when you were gonna wake up," he said softly. "You've got a killer cast by the way"

"Means you won't get any for like two months," JJ mumbled. Will turned red, giving an awkward cough.

"You know your dad is standing right behind me," he said as Michael started to laugh.

Too groggy to be embarrassed, JJ managed a weak smile, reaching up to tousle Will's hair.

"It's ok," she whispered, making Will laugh.

"You're really out of it right now," he said with a chuckle as Michael moved around to the other side of JJ's bed. By now, Sandy, who had joined them while JJ was in surgery, was standing at the end.

"How's the leg?" Michael asked.

"Sore," JJ mumbled, draping one arm up above her head as she looked down at her cast.

It went from her toes to just above her knee, effectively immobilising her entire leg below her hip.

"Oh great," she groaned, flopping back and casting her gaze up to the ceiling.

"This one is only for six weeks. After that, you'll have an evaluation and hopefully get a shorter cast," Sandy said gently, placing a hand on JJ's uninjured leg.

Michael smiled. "Don't worry peanut. You've got plenty of time to get back to the gym"

* * *

JJ had spent three nights in hospital before being discharged. She'd been released with a wheelchair, which was she was to use as her sole method of getting around for at least two weeks to allow the bones to start knitting together. Then, she was allowed to start using crutches, but only if she could get around on them with ease.

Getting home had been a challenge, as JJ's leg couldn't bend in the cast. It had taken two nurses and her dad to help her into the car. And then, upon arriving home, it was all up to her dad. After a lot of careful manoeuvring, he had managed to get her inside the house and onto the couch. It had involved a few bumps and a lot of laughter, but finally, JJ was comfortable.

While her mom fussed about making her something to eat, JJ opened up FaceTime on her phone, going into Aly's contact, and starting a call. It was less than twenty seconds before she answered.

" _Hey my crazy friend. What's new with you?"_ Aly answered with a yawn from beneath a mountain of covers.

JJ smiled. "Not much, just thought I'd check in with the nap queen"

" _Why aren't you at the gym, I thought you were still training"_

"About that...," JJ trailed off, switching the camera on her phone to show Aly her cast.

Aly bolted upright with a gasp. _"Shit, JJ, what happened?"_

"Did a full in off the end of the beam. Landed with my legs still tucked beneath me and broke my leg," JJ replied.

" _Oh my god, when did you do that?"_

"Friday morning. I've been in hospital all weekend, I only got home like half an hour ago"

" _Oh man. How long are you out for?"_

"Won't be back in training until around March the doctor reckons, but it could be earlier or later. We're just taking it week by week. It wasn't a bad break, like it broke clean through, but it wasn't majorly out of line or anything, and I didn't break my tibia, otherwise I could've been out for anywhere between three and six months"

" _Lucky break... no pun intended"_

JJ laughed.

" _I'll have to come down and sign your cast!"_

"Yes you will!" JJ chuckled.

" _What did Nick say?"_

"He was like 'you could've just broken the beam instead of your leg, I wouldn't have been mad'"

Aly giggled. _"Typical Nick. Do any of the other girls know yet?"_

"Simone called me yesterday, I can't remember what she called for, but I told her afterwards. Other than her, I don't think anyone else knows, unless she's told them. Nick was going to contact Marta this morning and let her know what happened, but I'm not sure if he has"

" _Well, I'm sure you'll be back on your feet in no time. In the meantime, you can be personal cheerleader as I drag my tired butt to the gym every day starting next year"_

"I'm all over it. I'll get myself some pom poms and everything," JJ giggled. "Give me an A! Give me an L! Give me a Y! Gooooooo ALY!"

Aly laughed. _"Now I see why you're a gymnast and not a cheerleader"_

Sandy walked over, handing JJ a bowl of stir fried noodles and vegetables, one of JJ's favourite easy lunches.

"Hi Aly," she said warmly, sitting down beside JJ. "Keeping an eye on my walking accident?"

" _Hahaha hi Sandy! As always, since I am older"_

"By two months!" JJ exclaimed, making Aly and her mom laugh.

" _Still"_

"You know, it's funny, way back at the beginning of the year, when I took Will to the gym with me, he asked me if I was really an Olympic Champion or just a very lucky disaster"

Aly and Sandy burst out laughing.

"If I've ever heard a more accurate description of you, I'll eat my own leg"

"Thanks for the moral support Mom"

" _You really are an anomaly to me JJ, but I love you,"_ Aly added.

"I love you too," Sandy added, kissing the top of JJ's head and giving her a squeeze. "You're my favourite Olympic champion"

" _I thought I was your favourite,"_ Aly joked, making Sandy chuckle.

"You're a close second, Aly,"

"Is all this love just because I broke my leg?" JJ asked dryly.

" _Maybe_ ," Aly teased.

"I'll leave you two to it," Sandy said warmly, waving to Aly before rising up and leaving the room once more.

" _So are you going to go back to training this year?"_

"Yeah," JJ replied with a smile. "A broken leg won't stop me, trust me. I was really upset about it on Friday, but, like... it's not even November yet. I have plenty of time to rebuild the strength and get back into it. Nick and I were going to upgrade my vault for 2014, but now I think we're just going to add it back in as a DTY so I can get used to do doing the all-around again, and we'll upgrade it in 2015"

" _Are you still going to do a second vault?"_

JJ nodded. "I'd definitely like to. We'll start training it next year for sure"

" _I'm excited, I can't wait to see you compete next year!"_

JJ smiled. "Well, I'll be out there hoping that in 2015... you'll be with me"

Holding her fist up for a pretend fist bump, Aly grinned. " _I'll be with you for sure"_


	39. Chapter 39

**A/N: I suck at writing scenes like this so I hope it makes sense!**

* * *

Sitting idle was not JJ's strong suit. Her leg itched, her muscles ached, and all she wanted to do was get up and be moving around.

It had been two weeks since the injury occurred, and while she was now allowed to move around with crutches, it just wasn't enough for her.

"Do you think the doctor would shorten my cast now?" she had asked her father after an hour of using the crutches, only half joking. He had simply chuckled, shaking his head as he watched her poke her crutches angrily into the carpet.

It was a cold, horrible day when Will came over to keep JJ company while her parents were out. He'd only been there for an hour when he noticed just how restless she was. Not to mention she seemed irritable at best.

"You gonna sit still?" he asked, a teasing grin on his face.

"I hate sitting still," JJ said shortly. "I'm sick of this cast, I want to go back to training"

Will looked at her incredulously. "JJ... you were _at_ training when you broke the leg"

JJ shrugged. "So?"

Unable to find any words, Will just shook his head.

"I just... you've had two pretty major injuries from gymnastics in the past three years... wouldn't you want to take some time off and get back into it slowly?" he finally asked.

"What, you think I'm going to rush back in there right now with this cast on my leg?" JJ said sarcastically.

"No, I just mean that when you're able to go back, maybe you should take it easy for a while. You've had a big three years," Will reasoned. "Maybe you should sit this season out?"

"Do you even understand what it takes to go to Worlds? The Olympics? I train six hours a day, day in, day out, because even a week off means I could lose half my skills. I'm already at a huge deficit heading into the next season because I'm losing eight weeks of training time," JJ explained, her voice starting to rise. "I _want_ to go to Worlds, Will, I'm not giving up just because I got injured"

"You're sidelined with a broken leg!" Will exclaimed. "You're driving yourself insane, can you take just five minutes to think about something other than gymnastics?"

The look that flew into JJ's eyes was absolutely murderous, and Will was suddenly grateful she couldn't move very quickly.

"To be at the level I'm at, gymnastics has to be your life, and as much as you _say_ you support me, I don't think you understand that!" JJ spat. "I _want_ to go back and that should be all that matters!"

"I do support you JJ!" Will said exasperatedly, jumping up from the couch. "But... as much as I see how it makes you happy, I'm trying to understand what it is that you're chasing, and I just can't figure it out! I mean, you've already been to the Olympics once, you had great success there, what more could you possibly want?"

Tears welled in JJ's eyes, the words unable to find their way out of her mouth as the context behind Will's words hit her. Did he really not understand it? If he didn't understand, how could he possibly support her?

"JJ... please don't cry, I didn't mean to yell-"

"Just go," JJ said tearfully.

"JJ-"

"LEAVE!" JJ yelled, tears now flooding down her cheeks as she thrust an angry finger towards the front door. "Just go!"

Not seeing the point in arguing, Will turned and left. JJ collapsed down on the arm of the couch, burying her face in her folded arms as she tried to control her tears.

She knew Will hadn't intentionally tried to upset her, and she also knew where he was coming from; their entire time knowing each other, he'd been just a bystander for her gymnastics career. He didn't understand it like her family did, and she couldn't be mad at him for that.

But for some reason, their spat had unearthed something in JJ that she'd been trying to ignore; the nagging worry that her broken leg was going to take her out of the running for Worlds and she would fizzle out and become irrelevant by 2016.

She wanted Rio so badly that she could taste it. But right this very minute, just like Will had said, she didn't know why. And that lack of a motivation was surely going to be her downfall.

'This has to be it,' she thought through broken tears. 'What if I just step down now and start on the next chapter?'

Her mind was a mess. She was angry, upset, confused, and broken.

And she had no solid reason to explain it.


	40. Chapter 40

**A/N: I like this chapter!**

* * *

"Nick?"

Hearing the familiar voice, Nick wheeled around from his spot at the edge of the trampolines to find JJ standing in the entryway.

"Hey kiddo... what's up?" he asked curiously, stepping down from the platform and walking towards her.

"Can we talk?" she asked quietly.

Without hesitation, Nick nodded, leading her over to the deserted office and ushering her inside.

While he took a seat in his office chair, JJ made herself comfortable on the edge of a desk, her cast resting on the chair just below.

An unsure silence prefaced their conversation, with JJ visibly trying to find the right words before she spoke.

"I... I don't know if I want to do this anymore," she finally said softly, avoiding Nick's gaze for fear of his reaction. She knew he would be shocked... but he would probably also be so disappointed.

The silence was so heavy, it could've been cut with a knife. JJ didn't dare look up, staring at her hands as she waited for Nick to speak.

"But... why?" he finally asked, and the confusion in his voice sent a stab of guilt through JJ's stomach.

JJ shrugged. "I don't know"

"You don't know why you don't know if you want to do gymnastics anymore?" Nick queried, frowning as he looked across at the young athlete.

JJ shook her head, still refusing to look up at her coach. She could feel a lump forming in her throat, and had to quickly swallow it back. She didn't want to cry. Not now.

"JJ, look at me," Nick said gently, rolling his chair a little way across the office floor so he could sit closer to JJ.

Taking a deep breath to fight her cracking composure, JJ lifted her face to look at Nick. She was surprised to see concern written all over his face; she'd expected hurt, disappointment... maybe even a little anger.

"What's brought this on?" her coach continued in a soft voice. "Because six weeks ago, I vividly remember you lying out there with a broken leg, gung-ho that you were going to Worlds"

JJ bit her lip, clenching her hands together as she looked down at the floor again. "Will and I... we had this fight, and... he said that... he doesn't understand why I'm still doing this. That I've been to the Olympics and won medals, I've had the highest success... so he doesn't understand why I'm still chasing it"

Nick frowned. "JJ, when have you _ever_ let what anyone else thinks define what you do? You don't even listen to _me_ some days, why would you let what Will says dictate what you're doing in this sport?"

JJ shook her head, looking up at Nick again. "No, it's not that... it's that, on some level... I think he's right"

Stunned was the only word JJ could have used to describe the expression gracing Nick's face after that.

"I _don't_ know why I'm still chasing this... and I can't keep going like this, because I'm going to lose motivation and burn out," she continued, her voice now a little stronger.

Sighing, Nick stood up, leaning against the edge of the desk JJ was sitting on with his hands either side of her, his eyes fixed directly on her.

"JJ... all that stuff you've ever heard about how to succeed in high level sports, you've got to have reason?" he said firmly. "Forget about it. It's all bullshit"

"But-"

Nick shook his head, pushing back so he was standing up straight in front of her. "You know, ever since you were about eight, all you ever told me was that you wanted an Olympic gold medal. You wanted that medal _so badly_ , JJ, and you got it and then some. That was the _only_ thing besides your love of gymnastics that propelled you to the Games. Already having two gold medals doesn't mean you're not allowed to want more. Look at Michael Phelps"

JJ sighed heavily. "I know"

"Hey, look at me," Nick said softly as her gaze drifted back to the floor. "Do you love gymnastics?"

JJ nodded.

"Do you enjoy training at the elite level and competing for your country?"

JJ nodded again.

Nick smiled. "Then that's all that matters kiddo. If you enjoy this sport and you want to keep working back to the Olympics, then that's good enough for you, and it's good enough for me. You don't need some divine God given reason to be doing what you're doing. Maybe, someday in the future, you'll find something that gives you that extra upwards push to keep going, but right now, all that matters is if you're having fun, and no-one else is allowed to have a say in that, ok?"

Nodding, JJ managed a small smile. "Yeah"

"I'm not forcing you to stay if you really don't want to, alright, if you actually want to leave it right now, then that's up to you. I just want you to understand that you don't need a reason to be in this sport, and you don't owe anyone an explanation if it's what you want"

"I'm not going to quit," JJ said quietly, looking up at Nick with a smile.

Nick seemed to visibly relax, a smile crossing his face as he sank down onto the edge of the table.

"That's what I like to hear," he said, his smile changing into his usual goofy grin.

"I think... what Will said scared me... especially since I've been kinda anxious ever since I broke my leg," JJ admitted.

"That's understandable," Nick said gently. "But I don't want you to worry about the leg, ok? It's going to heal and you'll be back in training before you know it"

JJ nodded, reaching for her crutches as she made to stand up. "I should probably get back to my dad, he's waiting outside"

Nick reached out, helping JJ to her feet. Once she was balanced, she turned and made her way towards the office door.

"Hey JJ?"

Looking back over her shoulder, JJ looked questioningly at her coach.

"Do me a favour... when you see Will next, tell him to pull his head out of his ass"

JJ burst out laughing, nodding in agreement as Nick opened the door for her.

"I'll see you in a few weeks, _no more broken bones_ , otherwise Classics isn't going to happen," he teased.

"I promise," JJ said with a grin, giving her coach one final wave before making her way back out to where her dad was waiting in the car.

* * *

It was a few hours later when JJ heard a knock at the door of her bedroom.

"Come in," she called, setting her book down on her nightstand. She'd just let go of it when the door opened, and in came Will, carrying a small bunch of flowers.

"Hey," she said softly, giving him a slightly unsure smile; the last time they had spoken had been their argument.

"Hey," Will replied, standing at the foot of her bed. "These are for you... an apology for my being pigheaded"

JJ shook her head as he handed her the flowers. "Will, it's not all your fault"

"Maybe it is, maybe it isn't, either way, I'm still sorry for how things went. I didn't mean to upset you like that, I think... maybe I just got a little frustrated," Will replied, sitting down on the edge of the bed within JJ's arms reach.

Setting the flowers down for a moment on the nightstand, JJ reached out and took Will's hand.

"I was already worked up over this injury. It just so happened that what you said was enough to tip me off the edge. Really, Will, it's ok. I totally understand where you were coming from," she explained.

"I know. And you know something JJ? I may never understand why you do what you do. But what I do know? It makes you happy. Your eyes shine so bright when you're out there competing, and I just want to see you happy, so maybe right now, I don't understand it, but maybe in a couple of years I will," Will said gently.

JJ smiled, pulling him a little closer. "I do it for the reason you just said. It makes me happy... I enjoy it. Maybe one day I'll find another reason, but for now... that's good enough for me"

Smiling, Will leaned in and pressed a gentle kiss to her lips.

"I love you," he whispered.

"I love you too," JJ replied, draping her arms around his neck as he came in for another kiss.

And just like that, all was well.


	41. Chapter 41

**A/N: Here you go!**

* * *

The weeks had flown, and 2014 was well and truly upon them.

JJ had reached the end of her time in the cast, and had moved onto breezing through physical therapy, while beginning to train in strength and conditioning. She had begun upper body training after changing from the full length cast to the half length with the boot. As soon as the cast had come off, her training had moved to full body strength and conditioning, with some light skills training into the pit.

And now, she was back in the gym for her first full day of training, with Will up in the mezzanine , watching on. Things had been smooth sailing between them ever since their blowup, and they had made it a point to have more discussions regarding both JJ's gymnastics, and anything but. Open communication between the two was more important than most people would assume; with JJ's pursuits and level of training, to keep their relationship strong, they had to be able to talk.

Conditioning, warm-ups, and stretching were all done. And even though Nick had given her the offer of starting easy on bars, JJ had refused.

She wanted to tackle beam.

The weeks leading up to her return to the gym had unearthed the anxiety lingering in the back of her mind. Beam was _her_ piece, but now, she felt slightly afraid of the equipment. Logically, she _knew_ her accident had been just that; an accident. But that nagging fear lingered, the fear that she would get reinjured.

And so she had mounted and started working the basic skills, doing back tucks and split jumps in place of bigger skills, and a backflip to layout stepout instead of her signature series.

Now, she stood silent on her chalk mark, hands readied in front of her, her eyes fixed on the beam.

But she couldn't make herself do a dismount.

"What's the trouble?" Nick asked gently, stepping into JJ's line of sight and leaning against the beam.

JJ took a deep breath. "I think... I might be... scared"

Nick feigned surprise. "You? Scared of what? There isn't a spider up there is there? Remember the day you found a spider in the chalk bucket? Screamed and threw chalk all over the floor? Yeah, I nearly had to get Mihai and his vacuum down here to help me"

JJ managed a laugh, her body language relaxing.

Smiling, Nick looked up at JJ. "I know it's easier said than done, but don't be scared, kiddo. You're our world champion, if there's anyone that knows how to make the beam their bitch, it's you"

JJ laughed again, seeming far more relaxed already. Up on the mezzanine, Will was watching with a grin; he loved being witness to the relationship JJ had with her coach.

"Why don't we try just a single flip off the end so you can get your air awareness back?"

Ever so slightly, JJ balked at the statement, but it didn't go unnoticed by Nick.

"I'll be right there to spot you, I promise," he said softly. "Heavy spot if you want"

Taking a deep breath, JJ nodded, turning away from the end of the beam and readying herself once more. She listened behind her to the rustle of the mats as Nick moved into position to spot her.

Deep breath.

Whipping her arms back over her head, she launched into the first flip, easily completing it and rebounding into the second one.

Even after all the weeks away from the sport, her muscle memory drove her upwards, and the second her feet punched away from the end of the beam, her confidence skyrocketed.

Instead of the single flip she had agreed to, she managed a high and flighty double tuck, putting it easily to her feet before looking up to see Nick grinning at her.

"Single means one? Numero uno?" he teased, holding up one finger.

JJ shrugged, a little grin finding its way onto her face. "It just happened"

Nick nodded, guiding her back towards the middle of the beam. "Good. Means your muscles haven't forgotten how to do everything, which is surprising to be perfectly honest, but it's not a bad thing. It means we'll have you back in top shape sooner than we thought"

Stopping, he glanced between JJ and the end of the beam. "Do you want to try your full in, or leave it?"

"Try it," JJ said immediately. "It'll stress me out if I don't. I need to know I can do it"

Nick nodded in understanding. "If your punch doesn't look good, I'll jump in for a heavy spot, otherwise, you know I'm there"

Nodding in agreement, JJ pulled herself back up onto the beam. As she readied herself once more, she instinctively shook out her left leg, the one she'd injured the last time she'd done this dismount.

'Breathe,' she reminded herself. 'You can do this'

Swinging her arms back, she immediately followed through into the flip.

Flip, flip...

It was high above the ground, clean, and perhaps a little overrotated with all the adrenaline, as became evident when she hit the floor and bounced backwards onto her butt.

But she'd done it, and the massive smile on her face was proof that she was more than pleased with herself.

Will couldn't help himself. Letting out a celebratory 'WOOP!', he punched the air with his fist.

"Good job!" Nick said ecstatically, high fiving JJ as she got to her feet. "Don't know how you managed to overrotate a full in, but look at that! You've still got it!"

Beaming, JJ turned around to Will, giving him a thumbs up, before turning to follow Nick towards the air track.

Why she had _ever_ wanted to quit, she had no idea. But now that she was back in the game, it was going better than she could have hoped for.


	42. Chapter 42

**A/N: Little bit short because I wanted to update but have to go to bed haha.**

* * *

With everything coming along far better than JJ had ever expected, it was with a happy and a 'can't go wrong today' attitude that JJ walked into the gym on the morning of her twentieth birthday.

"Good morning," Nick said with a smile, straightening up from dragging around a crash mat as JJ walked out of the locker room with her grips bag and water bottle in her hand. "And happy birthday"

"Thank you," JJ replied happily, setting her stuff down at the edge of the floor.

"Does this mean I can't call you kiddo anymore now that you're not a teenager? Will you get mad at me if I do?" Nick joked. JJ laughed, shaking her head.

"I don't care what you call me, as long as it's nice," she replied with a grin.

"Fair enough," Nick chuckled. "Alright, today... warmup, stretching, conditioning as normal. Then we'll do a dance through of your floor routine, followed by tumbling drills. Then we'll move to vault. I want five good double twists into the pit. Then we'll do some half on drills, and a couple of runs. If we have time left after that, we'll work some more on your vaulting, because I'm so certain you would be able to do two vaults by next year. Then stretching, then you'll go home, and we'll do the rest this afternoon"

"Sounds good," JJ nodded.

"Alright then, what are you waiting for? Get running," Nick instructed, gesturing her out onto the floor. JJ laughed, taking off into a run around the edge of the floor to start warming up.

* * *

" _You've joined me in the land of the twenties! Happy birthday!"_

"Thanks Aly," JJ laughed.

" _Don't tell me you went to training today, ok? I know you did, but I'd rather pretend you didn't. It's your birthday, did you do something fun?"_

"Um," JJ said slowly. "We went out for dinner?"

" _You are so boring"_

JJ laughed. "Ok, well what did _you_ do for your birthday?"

Aly stayed silent for a moment, her face reading defeat.

" _Went out for dinner"_

Giggling, JJ looked up as Will came out of the bathroom and walked across the room. He had joined them for dinner, and was now spending the night, as it had been some time since he and JJ had spent a decent amount of time together.

"So there you have it Raisman, you're just as boring as me," JJ teased as Will sat down behind her and wrapped his arms around her midsection, resting his chin on her shoulder.

" _The two grandmas of Team USA,"_ Aly said with a dramatic sigh.

"Don't lump me with you, Grandma Aly," JJ laughed.

" _Will, can you like... hit her, because she's a smartass,"_ Aly joked.

"Sorry, can't do that. She's too beautiful," Will replied, making JJ blush as she smiled.

" _Ick, you guys are so adorable it's almost gross,"_ Aly mused.

"You're just jealous," JJ teased.

" _There is no time for men in my life. I cannot rest until I have more Olympic medals than you"_

At that, JJ laughed. Joking about each other's success was more than common practice between the two of them, and helped relieve the tension and pressure of the path they were both travelling.

" _Anyway, I'm gonna leave you two to have some birthday celebrations of your own, because I have a ton of stuff to do. Talk to you tomorrow?"_

JJ grinned. "Of course. Don't work too hard"

" _Use protection!"_ Aly called out before hanging up, making Will laugh as JJ shook her head.

"She's unbelievable," she chuckled, setting her phone down on the nightstand.

"Mm, but not entirely wrong," Will murmured as he wrapped his arms around JJ and lay her down across the bed, crawling over the top of her as their lips locked in a deep kiss.

"Please tell me the door's locked," JJ managed to say in between kisses. Will breathed a yes as he rolled onto his side, pulling JJ with him and holding her flush against him.

The sex that followed the intimate moments was a little needy, sometimes a little rough and heavy... all indicative of just how much they had missed being so close to each other, how much it had all built up in the last couple of months of being too busy for even a date night.

But when they finally collapsed, completely spent, into each other's arms and drifted off into a content sleep, it was with happy hearts.

With Classics just over a week away, JJ's injury long behind her, and their relationship stronger than ever, it felt like there was nothing in the world to worry them.

Nothing at all.


	43. Chapter 43

**A/N: I know I've kind of rushed up to 2014, but trust me, it's going to get really REALLY good in the next season, so hang in there.**

* * *

The day of the 2014 US Classic had arrived, and finally, JJ felt like everything had fallen back into place. She was back with Simone and Kyla (McKayla was unfortunately sitting the season out after a bad cycle of injury and illness), her injury was well behind her, and Worlds was right in front of them.

As they stretched out after the morning practice, Simone was talking in her usual animated fashion, her smile lighting up the entire arena as Kyla laughed along with what she was saying.

"And then I just like, died in the foam pit," Simone giggled as she finished her story.

"Ok, I went head first into the foam pit last week and _actually_ thought I would die trying to get out," JJ cut in, making the other two girls laugh.

"What were you doing?" Kyla asked with a grin.

"Nick and I were messing around with some upgrades for later this year and into next year, and for fun, we decided to attempt a double double into the pit. I bailed halfway through the second flip and went in headfirst," JJ laughed.

"Try a Biles," Simone said cheekily. "Whip it out at Nationals, just be like 'BAM! Look at that Marta!'"

"Yeah, I've got a Moors, a Biles, and a double double in my back pocket, so watch out at Nationals, I'm coming," JJ joked. Simone laughed, flopping forward in her split as Kyla shook her head, grinning the whole time.

It felt good to be with the girls again.

* * *

" _Good evening, I'm John Roethlisberger, and I'm here with Olympic gold medallists Tim Daggett and Amanda Borden for the 2014 Secret US Classic! Today, we'll watch as some of the best gymnasts in the United States begin their path to the World Championships in China later this year. Tim, who do you think we have to watch tonight?"_

" _No question about it, Simone Biles is one to watch. She is the reigning national and world all-around champion, and she's looked rock solid in training all week, she's looking set to make it two in a row this year for a national title"_

" _Amanda, what are your thoughts?"_

" _Well, you can't talk about Worlds without discussing Jennifer Jareau; I have been so impressed with her over the past three years. She started to really make a name for herself in 2011, when she was part of that gold medal winning team at the World Championships in Tokyo, and then just exploded onto the stage at the Olympics a year later when she won five medals there. Her success just keeps coming! Of course, she is coming off a major injury, but in talking to JJ and her coach earlier today, they're both feeling confident, and JJ says she's ready to go"_

" _And that was no simple injury either, it happened just two weeks after the World Championships last year, she was doing a full in back out on beam, came up too short with her legs trapped beneath her and broke her leg below the knee. Her coach, Nicholas, actually told us she struggled a little bit after that, wasn't sure if she wanted to continue in the sport, but nevertheless, she's here today"_

" _She's actually right in front of us right now, only about 10 feet away. She's added vault back into her program because, as she told us this morning, she would like to contend for an all-around medal in Nanning later this year. Now originally, the plan was for her to have the coveted Amanar vault by Nationals this year, but since her injury, they're sticking with the double twist and holding off on the Amanar until next year"_

Standing at the end of the vault runway, JJ took a deep breath.

Wearing her favourite blue, white, and green leotard, she felt good. Her leg felt strong. Mentally, and physically, she was ready to tackle the next season of competition.

"On vault for Romero's, Jennifer Jareau!"

There was a roar from the crowd as she saluted the judges before taking her place on the powder blue mat. The people watching in the stands were clearly excited that she was back in action, and it only made JJ feel more confident and more relaxed.

Stepping back as was her custom before she vaulted, she took off down the runway, her steps measured perfectly before she hurdled into the roundoff, her feet planting down into the springboard.

She extended her arms well over her head, meaning her shoulders were completely open by the time she rebounded off the table. Allowing herself a moment to fully rise up, she then wrapped in the twist, executing two clean twists through her flip before landing the vault with only a small hop forward.

" _WOW!"_

" _That was an incredible double twisting Yurchenko! That's the first time she's vaulted in competition since the London Olympics, and you can tell she and her coach have been working incredibly hard on improving her vaulting. She got so much height!"_

She was beaming from ear to ear as she saluted once more and then headed off the podium, getting a big hug from Nick at the bottom of the stairs.

"Good start! Very good," Nick said with a huge smile. "Just remember to wrap the twist in _really_ tight, you could've gone for it a split second sooner, and it gives you that extra little bit to prepare for the landing"

Nodding, JJ accepted congratulations from the other girls in her rotation as they reached the bank of chairs where their group was.

A minutes or so later, her score flashed up on the screen; 15.566

" _Wow, that is a HUGE score for a double twist, they only took a little over two tenths in deductions. I'd say that was the hop on the landing, and a tenth for slight leg separation on the entry"_

"And who said a broken leg would stop you?" Nick said with a chuckle, patting JJ's shoulder as she started getting ready for bars.

* * *

Bars had easily been one of the best routines of her career, a clear indicator of just how much time she had had to work on the apparatus since her injury. She had felt her own strength through every movement, and had dismounted knowing she had just topped the routine that won her the Olympic bronze medal, as far as performance went.

Moving to beam had seen her first upset of the night. During the break from competitive season, she had noticed fans on social media had come up with a running tally for how long she'd gone in competition without falling off the beam. They were coming up to five years, and JJ had reasoned that unless she absolutely couldn't save it, there was no way in hell she was going to break that streak any time soon.

And she had put that testament to the test on the very opening series. Her first series, two backflips into a layout, had been off from the start.

She'd punched into the layout and straightaway knew it wasn't going to be a solid landing. And alas, she had landed with one foot on the beam, her other foot sliding down the side of the apparatus, and threatening to take her to the floor.

" _Oh JEEZ!"_

By some stroke of God... she'd somehow muscled the strength in her right thigh to pull herself back up to standing, and had even managed a grin.

" _Oh my gosh, that was a seriously close save! Look at her face, she knows how close she came to falling off that beam!"_

" _If someone was going to make the beam bend to their will today, it was going to be JJ, oh my gosh, haha"_

By the time she'd dismounted, she was laughing as she headed back towards Nick.

"I have no idea what the hell happened, but I also have no idea how on earth I saved that," she explained through giggles as Nick laughed and gave her a quick hug.

"I have no idea how you did it either, but you know what, you stayed on, you fought through it, and that's what I like to see. There were lots of areas we can work on back in the gym, but I think today, the most important thing was you stayed on. You showed everyone in this building why you're the reigning World and Olympic champion," Nick said warmly. "So carry that through to floor, ok?"

JJ nodded, taking his compliment to heart as she went off to find her bag.

* * *

Three passes had been solid, and now, all that stood in her way of a successful first meet back was a double pike.

Taking off from the corner, she hurdled into the roundoff, entering the tumbling run with ease. The punch from her flip was solid, and the double pike joined the list of successful gymnastics skills she had completed that evening.

Smiling widely, she finished the routine, saluting the judges before waving shortly to the crowd as she jogged down to meet Nick.

"Good job kid, I'm proud of you!" he said happily, hugging her tightly. "Always room to improve, but you go out there every time like it's pure perfection, and I love that"

JJ beamed, turning to hug Simone who had come over to congratulate her on a finished meet.

" _She has had a really good night. Some minor errors and a wacky save on beam are all we can fault her on today, and that is seriously impressive considering at the start of the year, she was in a hip to toe cast with that injured leg"_

" _Oh, there we go, a 14.933 puts her into second behind Simone and just ahead of Kyla... yes, Jennifer Jareau has had a brilliant night"_

All the way back in Pittsburgh, Will was watching the television closely, Michael sitting on the opposite couch, both of them wearing massive grins.

They couldn't have been prouder of their very own Jennifer Jareau.

* * *

 **Skill Guide**

 _Moors –_ a double flipping laidout salto with two twists. The hardest element on floor in the current Code of Points. Named for Victoria Moors of Canada, who first competed the element at the 2013 World Gymnastics Championships.

 _Biles –_ a double flipping laidout salto with a half twist in the second flip, to land facing away from where the tumbling run started. Named for Simone Biles of the United States, who first competed the element at the 2013 World Gymnastics Championships.


	44. Chapter 44

**A/N: More!**

* * *

" _You actually looked incredible in Chicago. If the commentators hadn't talked about it constantly, no-one would've known you had a broken leg in December"_

JJ chuckled. Her brother had phoned home to check in with the family, and for the first time in a long time, she had actually been home to speak with him. Since he lived in Florida with his girlfriend, they very rarely saw him in person. He occasionally travelled to her competitions (as he had done for the Olympics), but most of their sibling relationship was carried out through texts and calls.

"How much did they talk about it?"

" _Uh, a bit? Haha. That really hyperactive dude, Tim, he mentioned it just about every time you landed something"_

JJ laughed. "That doesn't surprise me in the slightest"

" _So how's things with you and Will? Is he treating my baby sister well? Do I need to fly up there and kick his ass?"_

Laughing again, JJ shook her head. "No, no ass kicking needed. It's really good. He's a sweetheart"

" _Good. If he does anything stupid, you tell me. I'll sort him out"_

"No homicide, please," JJ giggled.

" _I'm just messing with ya. Oh by the way, I completely forgot to mention this, but Katie was insanely impressed when you pulled that layout up on beam at the Classic. She was like 'see what happens when you don't skip leg day?'"_

JJ burst out laughing. "Oh my god. I honestly... could not tell you how I saved that. It just _happened_ , it was WILD!"

Jason laughed with her. _"She was trying to guilt me for skipping leg day, but yeah, she was mad impressed"_

"Yeah, don't skip leg day big bro, you never know when it'll come in handy"

Glancing over at her clock, JJ realised the time. "Shit, Jase, I gotta go, I told Will I'd be at his house at six... and it's six fifteen"

Jason laughed. _"Better late than never"_

Bidding goodbye to her brother, JJ grabbed her jacket, purse, and keys, before heading downstairs. Her parents were cuddled up on the couch in the front lounge room, looking content and happy, which made JJ smile; she liked that her parents still had a strong relationship after so many years together.

"I'm going to Will's for dinner," she said as she poked her head into the room. "I don't know when I'll be home, but I'll text you"

"Sounds good. Drive safe," Michael replied softly. Smiling, JJ nodded, turning on her heel and heading out the front door.

* * *

"Hey JJ, come in," William Sr said warmly as he opened the door. "Good job in Chicago on Friday! Janine and I were watching the broadcast... seriously, good job on the beam"

JJ chuckled. "The near fall?"

"That was impressive, sweetheart," William laughed, stepping aside so JJ could come in. "Will's up in his room, and dinner will be about fifteen minutes"

"Thanks William," JJ replied warmly, heading for the stairs.

When she reached the top of the stairs, the muffled sounds of people talking greeted her ears. Knocking lightly on Will's bedroom door, she opened it enough to poke her head inside.

What she saw made her grin. Will had put on a movie, which was playing on the TV opposite his bed, but had fallen asleep watching it. He was slumped over on the mattress, his cheek pressed into his hand.

Slipping into the room, JJ carefully sat down on the edge of the bed, reaching out to gently tousle Will's hair.

He frowned, swatting her hand away as she giggled.

"Come on Will... rise and shine," she said softly.

"No," he mumbled. "Sleeping"

JJ chuckled, shifting so she was lying on her side, her head resting against her propped up hand as she lazily tickled Will's side.

"No," Will mumbled again, wriggling away as JJ laughed.

"What if I get naked?" she said cheekily.

"I'm awake," Will groaned, rolling over and pulling JJ into his arms as she started to laugh. His eyes were now open, despite the fact he was clearly still half asleep.

"I'm not getting naked... at least not right now," JJ teased, kissing his lips ever so briefly.

"Spoilsport," Will whispered.

"Always," JJ agreed, chuckling as Will pulled himself up into a sitting position. JJ followed, leaning into his side as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders and kissed the top of her head.

"So how are you feeling about Nationals?" Will asked.

"Good, but... I've decided I don't want to talk about gymnastics outside the gym," JJ said softly. "I mean... the occasional conversation is ok... but we're now two years and two days away from the Rio Olympics... and now that I've successfully made it more than eighteen months post London, I know that barring injury, I have a decent shot of getting into the selection process, but it's not going to happen if I get too ahead of myself. So... I want to focus on gymnastics when I'm in the gym, and focus on normal stuff outside the gym... there has to be a balance"

Will nodded. "I think I can understand that. Besides, you and I have to talk about teasing me awake with the prospect of you naked in my bed"

JJ laughed. "Well, it woke you up didn't it?"

"Yeah, but it was mean. You see, I actually really enjoy having you in my bed with not one skerrick of clothing on, so you basically just dangled a carrot in front of me and then ate it yourself," Will said, pretending to pout, before starting to laugh. Grabbing JJ around the middle, he easily rolled her onto her back, his slender fingers tickling her sides as she laughed and tried to push him away.

"Will... WILL! S-stop!" she struggled to say, the words unable to fight through the laughter. Will grinned, relenting before leaning down and pressing a deep kiss to JJ's lips.

"I love y-"

"Dinner!" came Janine's voice from downstairs, cutting Will off. JJ giggled.

"I love you too," she said with a smile, kissing him in return before they both rose from the bed and headed downstairs to join his parents for dinner.

* * *

Dinner with Will's parents was something they had only managed to do sparingly over the course of their relationship, and JJ always loved it. Will's parents were incredible cooks, and in conversation with the young couple, actually treated them like adults, rather than just 'their son and his girlfriend'.

JJ hadn't worried too much about the 'no gym talk outside the gym' rule during dinner; Will's parents, in particular William Sr, had a knack for discussing JJ's gymnastics without making her stress about the future too much. But many more topics had been broached; Will's college classes, JJ's online classes, what her parents and brother were up to ("we really need to catch up with Sandy and Michael, it's been far too long"), some of the crazier things William had seen in his work, amongst many other topics.

After dinner had been cleaned up, William and Janine had retreated to the den to watch a movie together, while JJ and Will had returned upstairs to Will's room to do the same thing.

Having texted her parents to let them know she was probably going to end up staying the night, JJ had changed into one of Will's old T-shirts before cuddling up beside him to watch _Grown Ups,_ one of their favourite comedies.

Given the weekend she'd had, it hadn't been long before she'd passed out, her head tucked beneath Will's chin, his arms wrapped tightly around her.

Aside from gymnastics, there was nothing she enjoyed more than indulging in normal activities.

It was just the cherry on top if they involved Will.

* * *

"Ok, so... vault? Good! You had a lot of height, you cleared the table well, your form was clean. You're lucky everything comes back to you so naturally, it definitely helped us improve on your vault from 2012," Nick rattled off as JJ stretched in straddle position on the floor. "Bars were really good! I'm going to be super nitpicky because we want your bars to be oh my god amazing, but there were some minor form breaks we need to work on. One of your pirouettes had a leg sep, and I think your releases could have a tiny bit more height just for some extra oomph, but that comes from the swing so we'll keep working on it"

Glancing down at his phone, where he'd obviously taken notes during the Classic, he looked up with a chuckle.

"We'll tackle the mystery beam save. It was an _awesome_ save, but the judges really did cop you for it, so we need to make sure it doesn't happen again"

"I honestly don't know how I slipped, it _felt_ good," JJ replied.

"I rewatched your beam routine last night, and I can't really tell from the angle, but I _think_ you may have dropped your left shoulder as you punched and it sent you off to the side. I'll get you to watch it as well and we'll see if you can pick it up," Nick affirmed. "And floor... floor was good, but you normally break fifteen quite easily on floor, so I went back and rewatched your routine to see what you did... were you aware your double layout went wonky in the air?"

"Yeah," JJ nodded. "I threw my shoulders back crooked because I came out of the backflip a little weird, and it went a little haywire through the middle of the layout"

"Good, at least you know what you did. It says a lot about your ability with the harder skills that all these little foundations can go wrong and you can still land the skill reasonably well, but the aim is to eventually have them perfected, so we'll keep working, alright?"

JJ nodded, relaxing out of her stretch and standing up.

"Alright champ," Nick said with a smile. "Let's get to work"


	45. Chapter 45

**A/N: So I'm thinking of maybe starting to include the team in this as well, which deviates from my original plan, but it could be fun. Anyone interested in that?**

 **Of course, I would have to link them back to the gymnastics side in order for later arcs to work, but it'll be fun!**

* * *

" _London seems like yesterday. But now the Olympics of Rio de Janeiro are less than two years away! So now, every mount, dismount, and everything that comes in between, are crucial. Simone Biles, the defending national and world champion, knows that. Going back to back is one of the hardest things to do in sports. She knows that too. But she's well on her way tonight, in Pittsburgh, PA"_

Night one of Nationals had breezed past. Now, it was time to hammer it home in the second night of competition. JJ felt energised and ready to go. Will and his parents were sitting with her parents somewhere in the stands, as well as all the kids and coaches from her gym. Her grandparents were somewhere around as well, joined by a couple of her cousins. Even despite the fact that she hadn't had a great number of friends in high school, she had also spotted a few of them in the crowd during warm-ups and that had made her feel even better.

" _NBC welcomes you to the 2014 P &G Championships, presented by CoverGirl, and Gillette. We're live near the Confluence, where two rivers form a third, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, at the home of the Pittsburgh Penguins, the Consol Energy Center! Tonight, the ultimate night in women's gymnastics, there'll be a champion when the competition is done, in a little under two hours. In terms of gymnastics status, Simone Biles has been a rocket ship! Bursting onto the scene a year ago to claim a national title, then backing it up with a world championship. And look at the huge margin for error she has. Jennifer Jareau, Maggie Nichols, Alyssa Baumann, and Kyla Ross may provide the most interesting battle tonight. Good evening everybody, I'm Al Trautwig, champions everywhere in the building tonight and I'm with two of them. Peter Daggett's dad, Tim, and Nastia Liukin. Tim, what is it that sets Simone Biles apart?"_

" _Well actually, you'll see it Al, in just about three minutes. She is just about the most powerful gymnast that I've ever seen on three events. She just gets... more air, higher than any female gymnast I've ever seen, she's awesome"_

JJ was up for floor right after Simone, so during her younger teammate's routine, stayed near the stairs, Nick right at her side. She had looked up a few minutes before and had found all her friends and family; Will, his parents, and her parents were sitting about eight rows back from the commentary row along the vault side of the arena. Her high school friends, Alanis, Katie, and Traci were one block over and a little closer to the front. She hadn't found the kids from the gym yet, but knew they would fill almost an entire block of seats.

Simone's music filled the arena and the second night was underway. JJ didn't watch (she wanted to focus on her own routine), instead choosing to go over her choreography one more time on the sidelines. She heard the familiar thump of Simone punching her tumbles right into the floor, followed by the excited cheers. It was a new routine for Simone this year, and it sounded like it was just as exciting as the previous year's.

"Remember, drive your shoulders up out of the punch on each pass, and let your body follow through. It's been looking really good in training, so let's keep that momentum going," Nick said quietly as he stood just beside her.

It felt like seconds later that Simone was done and JJ was high fiving her on a great routine before heading up to the floor herself.

" _So next up we have... Olympic silver medallist on this event, Jennifer Jareau. What would you say about JJ's chances for Worlds?"_

" _Oh, she's on that team, no doubt about it. JJ, Simone, and Kyla have all been exempt from the Pan American team, which leaves tomorrow, because Marta wants them rested and ready for Worlds"_

" _She had a pretty major injury just after last year's Worlds, do you think that's hindered where she's at, difficulty wise?"_

" _No, I would say she's basically at last year's level with her difficulty, her execution is actually better than last year. I think, for JJ, she's lucky that the injury occurred basically at the end of her competitive season, so she's had plenty of time to rest and recuperate. It did mean she had to miss the City of Jesolo Trophy earlier this year, but I think she would rather miss that than miss Worlds"_

"On floor for Romero's, Jennifer Jareau!"

The cheer was ecstatic as JJ saluted with a huge smile and stepped out onto the carpet.

" _Sounds like there's lots of people here for her tonight. She actually lives only about... half an hour from here, in the district of Allegheny, so I'm sure her friends and family have all made the journey here to support her"_

Her music began, the same as last year, and invigorated with fresh energy, she dove straight into the choreography. She loved this particular floor routine, and she was sure it showed on her face as she danced to the corner.

Rebounding straight from the corner into her tumbling run, she focused on Nick's corrections. Tight shoulders, fast arms, let her body follow through.

The double layout came down from a height that JJ never expected to reach, landed completely solidly on the floor amongst excited cheers. She wasted no time in turning back and heading straight into her second; a triple full, which came up slightly short on the twisting rotation, but as far as the flipping axis was concerned, her shoulders and chest were up.

She let the music flow through her as she danced through the routine, executing a clean double spin which followed through straight into her leap series. She found a moment amongst the choreography when she was able to make a connection with the judges, and took advantage of it.

Moments later, the third pass was upon her. She rebounded easily from the backflip into her full twisting double tuck, finding that the height on it was not as ecstatic as her layout had been, but it was still great.

The double pike followed, with a big hop forward at the end; her endurance on floor needed a little bit of work, as her pike had come up a little short, but she'd held on right through to the final pose. The music ended and she held it for a moment before stepping to the side and saluting the judges, looking up at the crowd and waving with a huge smile as she walked along the edge of the podium to the stairs.

"Yeah JJ! WOO!" she heard, making her laugh as she looked along one of the blocks. Finally, she located the kids from her gym, and the source of the cheer; Kate, the happy young girl who adored spending time with JJ in the gym. She was now eleven years old, and looked incredibly excited to be watching her club teammate compete at Nationals.

Waving to Kate, she pressed her fingers to her lips, blowing a kiss to all the kids from Romero's, before jogging down the stairs to get a hug from Nick.

"Good job," Nick said happily as he hugged JJ tightly. "Endurance, but that's something we can build on"

Letting go of his gymnast, he smiled, turning with her to walk back towards their bags.

"Good job JJ!" Simone said excitedly as she ran over and threw her arms around JJ, almost knocking JJ off balance. Laughing, JJ hugged her back. The hug was brief, with Simone falling into step beside her older teammate on the way back to the group.

No sooner had the girls finished congratulating her on a hit routine than they were all facing back towards the competition floor, ready to cheer on the next competitors. Amelia Hundley was on the beam, and Kyla was waiting to go on floor.

While cheers of "come on Meals!" filled their side of the arena, JJ turned her attention to Kyla, whose poker face concealed any sort of nerves or worry. But JJ knew Kyla enough to know she was probably a little nervous, especially considering she had fallen on her first pass on the first night of competition.

"You got this Kyla!" she called out. Kyla turned, catching JJ's eye and giving her a small smile. JJ beamed, giving her a thumbs up. She knew Kyla would whip out a great routine no matter what, but felt it was still important to support her and encourage her as well.

* * *

The changeover to the second rotation reached them, and JJ was moving around to vault with Simone, Kyla, Mykayla Skinner, Macy Toronjo, and the couple of new seniors in their group whom she wasn't quite familiar with yet.

With her bag slung over Nick's shoulder as she adjusted her tiger paws, she looked up as they walked, and spotted two people standing with Andrea Joyce by the beam.

Her smile could've lit up the whole arena, an excited shriek escaping her as she ran over and threw her arms around Aly, making Andrea and Gabby laugh.

"Wow, I bet you guys haven't seen each other in ages!" Andrea remarked as JJ let go of Aly and hugged Gabby tightly.

"No, we haven't seen each other since Nationals last year," Aly laughed.

"We all video chat and text all the time, but it's just not the same as actually seeing each other," JJ said with a smile.

"Well, I'll keep the three of you for just a moment, since all three of you have your sights set on 2016. JJ, you've been sticking around, you've battled back from an injury, what is most important to you as you head through these final two years to Rio?"

"For me, it's just taking it one day at a time, and making sure I'm listening to my coach, my doctors, my rehab therapists, making sure we take care of minor injuries before they become problems... it'll all work together to help me make it to 2016," JJ replied with a smile from between her two friends.

"Gabby, we know it's a long road, but compare if you can, the gymnast you were when you left London to where you are now, specifically with skills, um, determination, all that stuff"

"Um, the gymnast that I am today, I would have to say I'm a little bit stronger this time, and a little bit more, um... you know, things have changed, like my perspective, you know, I'm a little bit more mature, so I know like what it takes, the experience, so you know, I'm a little bit better this time than I was before," Gabby said, her words spilling out in her trademark quick fashion.

"Aly, we know it is a long road, and we've seen other women in gymnastics try to make this comeback for a second Olympics. What do you think the biggest challenge is gonna be right now as you look ahead?"

Aly took a deep breath. "Um, I think right now I'm aiming for October training camp, the three of us, we're doing this together and I'm really glad we have each other's support, but I think the most important thing is just to stay positive and make sure we keep our conditioning up"

Andrea smiled. "You watched Simone Biles and how incredibly dominant she is, is it inspiring, or is it intimidating?"

"It's both!" Aly exclaimed, much to JJ and Gabby's laughter. "I mean, she's incredible, she is... she's better than incredible, there's no words to describe her. At the Secret Classic and both nights here, she's been absolutely amazing, she's sticking her tumbling passes, I'm so proud and so impressed with her"

"And Gabby, two years before London, you were fourth at juniors, are you afraid a little bit that there's some little Gabbys out there, waiting for that?"

Aly laughed as Gabby spoke up. "Uh no, no, I'm definitely happy that there are little Gabbys more now, you know to inspire them, to know that anything's possible, you know, so I'm happy"

"Alright, we look forward to seeing you guys down the road, and JJ, good luck for the rest of competition," Andrea closed off. The girls thanked her, and with one last hug to each of her friends and a promise to catch up before they left Pittsburgh, JJ headed back over to the vault.

* * *

"Come on JJ, you got it!"

"On vault for Romero's, Jennifer Jareau!"

The applause was undeniable as JJ saluted and stepped onto the runway.

" _This vault looked incredible at the Classic a couple of weeks ago, let's see if she can make it happen again"_

Up in the stands, her parents watched on, nervously as always, as she took off, rocketing down the runway and hurdling onto the springboard. Her repulsion off the table was just as good as at the Classic, and with Nick's advice of wrapping the twist in even faster, she landed a good, strong, secure vault.

"Yes! That's my girl!" Michael cheered, leaping up from his seat as the crowd applauded her vault, Sandy right beside him with a cheer of 'good job!'.

After saluting the judges, she clapped her hands together, unable to hide her joy at how great her night was going. She practically skipped down the stairs, getting a hug from Nick before walking back towards the bank of chairs. She looked up, spotting her parents in the crowd and giving them a wave, before turning her attention back to the girls who were coming up to congratulate her.

" _She's having a great night. Now, after night one, Simone had a two point lead over her, so I don't think JJ can catch her, but she's still out there just rocking every routine and having fun!"_

" _Yeah, and I think, for JJ, that's the most important part, is that she's having fun. I mean, she's been through this cycle before, to go through it again without a break is an incredible effort, so her having fun through all of it is actually a pretty major priority"_

"This is so crazy," William Sr chuckled to his son. "I've never watched gymnastics anywhere other than on TV, it's all so different"

"Makes a bit more of an impression, doesn't it?" Will laughed. William nodded, watching everything going on around them in utter amazement.

After Simone had vaulted (to much applause), JJ had rushed up to give her a tight hug, both of them laughing.

"I'm just calling you national champ now, ok?" JJ teased.

"Hey, you're the one who's absolutely killing it today! Does having your boyfriend in the crowd light a little fire under your butt?" Simone giggled, getting a light swat on the shoulder as they both reached the chair bank.

"Nice work Simone!" Nick praised, giving Simone a squeeze before the other girls all came up. Simone beamed, visibly thrilled with her own performance.

And, JJ thought, she had every right to be.

* * *

"Alright JJ, come on. You got this," Michael said softly as JJ saluted the bars judges about twenty minutes later. Sandy gripped his knee tightly; if JJ was going to have a mistake at all, it was going to be on bars.

She mounted the apparatus with a glide kip cast, executing the low bar turning skills that had been a staple of her routine. With easy flight, she transitioned up to the high bar.

"Come on... nice!" Michael called out, both him and Sandy fidgeting nervously in their seats with each skill JJ performed.

Her first release was a clear mile over the high bar.

"Catch it!" Michael yelled. "Yes!"

Pak salto to the low bar, Shaposhnikova to the high bar. Pirouette to ready herself for the dismount.

Two giant swings, and she released into her double layout.

"Stick it!" Sandy yelled, her grip on Michael's hand having turned deathly.

The _thwack_ as JJ's feet hit the mats was a sure sign she'd landed it, much to her parents excitement. She had a large step forward on the dismount, due to the momentum of the release, but she'd completed the routine without major error.

" _She is just on FIRE today! Don't let her injure herself again, because she is scarily good when she comes back, Simone might be in jeopardy!"_

"You are honestly just getting better and better every time you get on the bars, you know that?" Nick said with a smile as JJ hugged him after coming down from the podium. "I'm really, really impressed with your improvement"

"I wanna swing bars like you!" came Simone's shriek as she hugged JJ tightly for the third time that night, making the other girls in their group laugh.

Remembering her dad's comment from almost a year ago, JJ laughed.

Simone really was a firecracker.

* * *

The break between bars and beam had been slightly longer than usual, as USA Gymnastics had held a ceremony to honour the gymnasts of the 1984 Olympic team, including the American sweetheart, Mary Lou Retton.

JJ and Simone had both watched in awe. While JJ had already been to an Olympics, Simone had not just yet, and JJ knew the younger girl was wondering if that would be her someday.

Beam had gone exactly to plan, with no wild saves and no missteps. At that point in time, JJ would have needed a 17.266 to pass Simone for the national title, which was miles beyond her reach, but a 14.700 was more than enough for her to claim the silver medal.

So after a stuck dismount, a celebratory punch of the air as she left the podium, and hugs all around, JJ knew she'd done enough to win silver behind Simone, with Kyla trailing just a point and a half behind her.

She'd also taken out her fifth straight national title on beam, as well as earning silver on floor and bronze on bars.

She'd undoubtedly been named to the 2014-2015 US National Team, along with Simone, Kyla, Alyssa Baumann, Maggie Nichols, Mykayla Skinner, Amelia Hundley, Madison Kocian, Brenna Dowell, Ashton Locklear, and Madison Desch.

She'd walked into the arena's foyer nearly an hour later to a waiting crowd of friends, family, and people from her gym, much to her surprise. With her medals proudly around her neck, she'd happily hugged each and every one of them, even getting another bunch of flowers from Will (who'd run out to buy them while he was waiting).

The thought about not having a great deal of school friends had been lingering in her head all evening. But here, surrounded by the people who loved her, cared for her, and supported her in her wildest dreams, she realised it didn't matter.

Almost no-one she'd been to school with had understood the pressure of trying to make it to London, and that had made it easier to keep to herself.

Besides... the people who did matter would always be there.

Just like they were on a beautiful summer's evening in Pittsburgh.


	46. Chapter 46

**A/N: Melbourne in like, ten days! So excited!**

* * *

While most of the girls had flown home from Nationals already, Simone, Kyla, Maggie, Alyssa, and Madison were staying in Pittsburgh for another day, along with Aly and Gabby. Seeing the opportunity to have everyone together, JJ's father had organised a summer cookout and invited the girls, their coaches, and their families to join, as well as JJ's friends who'd attended Nationals, Will and his parents, and some of the kids from the gym.

The sun was setting, but the atmosphere in the backyard of the Jareau residence was warm and inviting. The younger kids were running around happily, enjoying the summer evening. The smell of food cooking filled the air, as did the gentle chatter from the various groups.

"Mr Jareau, have you got special gymnast selections?" Simone asked with a giggle as Michael walked past the table where all the girls were sitting.

"Don't you worry Simone, everything was pre-approved by Beam Queen and her coach," Michael replied with a grin, getting a laugh out of everyone as he left to head over to the barbecue, where William Sr was keeping an eye on the food.

As Will, Aly, and Simone re-entered a discussion they'd been having prior, JJ turned to Alanis and Traci, who'd been sitting rather quietly at her side. Katie, who was probably the most outgoing of the four of them, was happily chatting with Madison and Maggie.

"Ok, JJ, I literally can't believe you're still going through all this," Alanis chuckled. "I mean... I remember the lead up to the London Olympics, it was so intense, and yet here you are still"

JJ grinned. "At this point, even though I know it can't go on forever... I can't imagine _not_ doing it? I just... at this point, I'm really enjoying it, and I can still train at a high level, so I don't see any point in stopping right now"

"I feel so bad that we haven't stayed in touch," Traci added, leaning in to the conversation. "I'm pretty sure the last time I spoke to you was just after London, so that's like two years ago"

JJ shrugged. "Don't feel bad. I'm so busy half the time that I barely speak to Will, and I'm just as bad at keeping contact with anyone else, I think the only people I actually do keep regular long distance contact with are all these girls," she said, gesturing vaguely towards Aly and Simone.

"Speaking of London... the last time we saw you was just before you left for the Olympics, and Traci and I... well, we were wondering if we could see the medals?" Alanis asked somewhat nervously.

JJ laughed. "Of course you can. I'll go get them"

She was back just a few minutes later, the two gold medals clutched in her hand. She handed one to each of her friends, smiling as they pored over them.

"JJ, these are incredible!" Alanis exclaimed, turning the heavy gold disc over in her hands. "And freaking heavy"

Laughing, JJ nodded. "They asked me to wear all five for that photo shoot I did with Michael Phelps, and I was like, 'are you actually serious, have you seen the size of me, I _will_ fall over'"

Alanis and Traci laughed.

"How are you guys going with university anyway? Are you still doing the same degrees?"

Traci shook her head. "I did one year of speech pathology last year, and hated it, so I looked into some other courses and decided to give forensics a go this year. I start in mid September, so we'll see how it goes, but I think I'm going to like it a lot more"

"And I'm still doing boring old law," Alanis joked, making the two girls laugh. "What about you JJ?"

"Do I look like someone who has time for university?" JJ chuckled. "I've done some online classes to build up some credits, but university as yet is going to have to wait for when I finally decide to can gymnastics. If it means I'm going to uni as a twenty five year old, well, that's just how it'll have to be"

"What are you going to study?" Traci asked.

"Well, the classes I've done have all been linked to journalism, and I've really liked them, so I'm thinking that's what I'm going to study later down the track. But criminology also sounds really good as well"

"You aren't gonna coach or anything?"

JJ shook her head. "I wouldn't be able to. I mean, I give serious props to the girls that can train their whole lives to be elite gymnasts, have an elite career, and then immediately go 'ok, I want to coach', but I couldn't do it. When I leave gymnastics, I'll actually need to put some distance between me and the sport. I love it, but it would stifle me if it literally became my entire life"

Rising voices to their left cut into their conversation.

"No, no, you're bullshitting me for sure," Will was saying adamantly, as Simone collapsed in peels of laughter while Aly tried to fight back a grin.

"It's four inches. Four. Like this," Aly insisted through laughter, holding her hands roughly four inches apart.

"No it's not, how could anyone possibly do a backflip on that!" Will exclaimed. By now, Simone couldn't even sit up straight, and Maggie and Alyssa had turned their attention to the opposite end of the table.

"Ask your girlfriend!" Aly laughed, gesturing wildly towards JJ. "She's the insane beam freak!"

"JJ, the beam is more than four inches wide, isn't it?" Will asked immediately, turning towards his girlfriend.

JJ bit her lip, her body shaking as she tried to contain her laughter. "If you've ever watched an NBC broadcast, I'm sure Tim Daggett would have you well informed that yes, it is four inches wide"

"That's bullshit!" Will exclaimed, totally stunned. "How do you do all that madness on a four inch wide plank of wood?"

JJ caught Aly's eye as they both laughed at Will's disbelief. "Now you're asking the right questions"

Simone resurfaced from beneath the table, wiping away tears of laughter from beneath her eyes. "Oh Will... you crack me up. I like you"

As they all started to laugh at the antics of the three sitting at the end of the table, JJ sat back happily.

Yes, Worlds camp was looming and things were ramping up. But she was incredibly excited about the opportunities that lay ahead.

Right now however? She was just happy to enjoy a nice summer cookout with her closest friends and family. It was the perfect way to wind down after an intense weekend of competition.


	47. Chapter 47

**A/N: Bit of a weird chapter, but felt it was necessary to start integrating.**

 **(Also The Gymternet is a real website, it's thegymter . net, and it's awesome, you should absolutely check it out)**

* * *

Morning practice was over, but since she was feeling a bit antsy, JJ had decided to go for a light run to burn off a little more energy.

She was absorbed in her phone, trying to find a new song to listen to as she rounded the corner, when she collided with someone on the footpath and went sprawling backwards.

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry, I didn't even see you coming!"

Looking up, JJ found an older brunette woman extending a hand to help her up. Grateful, she took it.

"It's ok," she said with a smile as she got to her feet and brushed herself off. "It's not your fault, I wasn't looking where I was going"

"You're not hurt are you?" the brunette asked worriedly.

JJ shook her head. "Don't worry, I'm fine. I've taken worse," she assured her with a laugh.

Her gaze turned towards the house that the brunette had come out of, and she was surprised to see an extremely muscular African-American man on the porch, interviewing the man who lived at the residence.

"Are you a cop?" she asked suddenly.

"FBI actually. We were called in to help the local PD with the abductions of Jessica Moore and Katherine O'Neill," the brunette replied.

Recognising the names, JJ's face fell. "Oh yeah, I heard about that on the news. People are so twisted. I hope you find them soon"

As she finished speaking, she noticed the woman was studying her curiously.

"What was your name?" the woman asked, snapping out of her reverie.

"Jennifer Jareau," JJ replied.

"I'm Emily Prentiss," the woman said with a smile. "That's my colleague, Derek Morgan"

Reaching into her pocket, Emily pulled out a business card. "I won't keep you much longer, but if you see or hear of anything you think could be of any use to us, don't hesitate to call"

Nodding, JJ took the card, sliding it into the back of her phone case. Bidding goodbye to the special agent, and apologising once more for crashing into her, she continued on at her steady pace down the street.

Emily was still standing on the sidewalk, watching after the blonde with curiosity when Derek rejoined her.

"Nothing of major importance. Who was that you were talking to?" he asked.

"Just a local girl. We didn't see each other and she crashed into me... I can't help but feel like I know her from somewhere," Emily mused.

"She probably looks like someone we've met on a case," Derek replied nonchalantly.

Shrugging, Emily shook her head as they set off back towards the car. "I don't think it's that... ah, what does it matter?"

And with that, the two agents climbed back into their vehicle and headed back to the police station.

* * *

"Flick it up!" Nick called as JJ arched up into her Tkatchev. She took the pointer, making the Tkatchev flighty and easy. Wrapping her hands around the bar, she swung into the downswing, connecting it straight to her Pak salto.

"Good, end it there for now," Nick instructed. JJ relaxed out of the swing, bringing her feet to the ground and letting go of the bar.

"Nick?" came Lisa's voice from a little way behind them. "There's someone here who wants to speak to you"

Frowning, Nick looked at JJ.

"Take a little break, ok? I'll be back in a minute," he instructed.

Nodding, JJ picked up her water bottle and her grips bag, following Nick back across the floor as she headed for her bag.

Looking up as she reached the edge of the floor, she was surprised to realise she knew the person standing beside Lisa. It was Emily, the federal agent she had quite literally bumped into earlier that day.

"Hi, Nick Romero. What can I do for you?" Nick said warmly, shaking Emily's hand once he had reached her.

"Hi, I'm Agent Prentiss with the FBI. We're here investigating the abductions of Jessica Moore and Katherine O'Neill. I just wanted to ask you a few questions regarding Katherine, as it appears she was enrolled in a recreational gymnastics class here just a few weeks ago," Emily explained. Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out a picture. "Do you recognise her?"

Nick frowned at the picture, before shaking his head. "Unfortunately, I don't... I don't have a lot to do with the recreational kids, I already have a lot on my hands with my competitive kids"

Emily nodded understandingly. "Are we able to get in touch with the staff who may have held her class?"

"Absolutely, Lisa can find you their contact details right now," Nick replied. Lisa nodded, heading straight into the office to find the relevant phone numbers

"Great," Emily beamed. "I just want to make it clear right away that we don't suspect you or any of your staff of any wrongdoing. We're just hoping that maybe someone spotted something unusual that could lead to a breakthrough"

"I understand that, and I know my coaching team will be more than happy to help you out. And of course, if I think of anything, I'll be sure to pass it along to the authorities," Nick said sincerely.

Smiling, Emily nodded her thanks.

Looking past Nick out into the gym, she smiled as she watched young girls training skills upon skills on all the different pieces of equipment.

"So you train the competitive groups? Is that like... the levels and then elite?"

"Yeah, but I only really deal with levels eight through ten, and I only hands on coach the tens," Nick replied as they slowly walked up to the edge of the trampoline podium to look out over the gym.

"Why's that? You own the gym don't you, wouldn't you try and coach more kids?" Emily asked curiously.

Nick nodded. "Normally yes, but I have an elite gymnast, and I'm her personal coach. Elite training and programming takes up most of my time, especially when you're travelling all over the place for competitions. So I _could_ coach more of the kids, but... it's easier for someone else to take them because then when I'm away with JJ, they don't get shaken up by having a different coach"

Emily raised her eyebrows. "Have you had many elites?"

Nick chuckled. "No, JJ's my first. It's a hell of a journey for both me and the athlete, it's not something you can do all the time"

"Has she been successful at that level?" Emily asked.

Nick chuckled again. "Well, she's training for her fourth Worlds team at the moment, we leave for the camp in a week, and she was on the 2012 Olympic team, so I'd say yes"

Emily's jaw dropped as she let out a laugh. "Wow, that _is_ impressive"

Before either of them could speak again, the sound of someone tumbling down the air track filled the gym. Turning his attention back to the main floor, Nick shook his head, a grin crossing his face. Beckoning for Emily to follow, he began to walk around the trampolines and out onto the floor.

"I thought I told you to take a break," he called out towards the end of the track. Moments later, JJ appeared at the end of it, hauling herself out of the foam pit.

"You took too long, I got bored," JJ replied, getting to her feet and brushing herself off.

"If that was a double double-"

"No, it was a double back, I'm not that stupid," JJ laughed.

"Well anyway... JJ, this is Agent Prentiss with the FBI-"

JJ grinned. "We've met. This morning. I crashed into her on my run"

"Of course you did," Nick sighed as Emily and JJ both laughed.

"Quite literally too, I was standing on the sidewalk staring into space, she came around the corner and didn't see me, and well, you can figure out the rest," Emily chuckled. "You know, I was trying to figure out this morning where I knew you from, and judging from what your coach has told me, I must have seen you in the Olympics, even though I have no memory whatsoever of watching them"

JJ laughed. "I think our faces were plastered country wide for a good three months after the Games, so that adds up"

At that moment, Lisa rejoined them, holding out a manila envelope to Emily.

"There you go, all our recreational coaching staff. I've highlighted the ones who were most likely to have taken Katherine's class, so you can start with them and work your way through if nothing comes up," she said with a smile.

"Thank you so much," Emily said warmly. "Well, I'd better be getting back. Thank you again for your cooperation, if we need anything else from you, we'll be in touch"

"Not a problem. Let me walk you out," Nick replied.

"Thank you," Emily answered. She took a few steps alongside Nick, before turning back to JJ. "Oh, and good luck with Worlds"

JJ beamed, nodding her thanks before giving the agent a small wave as she followed Nick back to the front door.

Turning back towards the tumble track, she shook her head.

What an odd day.

* * *

"You wanna see this website I found," Will said as he dropped himself down beside JJ with his laptop in his hands. Opening his browser, he navigated to an open tab, clicking it to reveal a stark white website with paragraphs of text on it.

"It's called The Gymternet. I found it today when I was trying to work out all that madness you do on beam," he explained. JJ laughed, leaning in closer to see the screen.

"This is like... a feature called 'You Ask, The Gymternet Answers', and basically people send in questions and the website writer answers them. I found a couple about you, and don't worry, I made sure they're nice ones," Will chuckled.

"Well, let me see!" JJ exclaimed. "I've never heard of this website!"

"It's pretty new, only popped up early this year"

Will scrolled down to one of the first few questions, stopping so JJ could read it.

 _ **At this point, after Nationals, who do you think is absolutely going to Worlds?**_

 _There's no doubt in my mind that Simone Biles and Jennifer Jareau will be in Nanning for the World Championships. They both showed at Nationals that they are strong and ready to go, especially JJ considering that injury she sustained after Worlds last year – a broken leg is not easy to come back from, yet she made it look like a walk in the park. I'd also say Kyla Ross is a definite, but beyond those three, everyone else will have to prove themselves again at the selection camp._

"What's the next one?" JJ asked. Will scrolled down again.

 _ **Do you think there's any contest for the beam title this year? I mean, Jennifer Jareau has the last two World titles and the current Olympic title, and she doesn't look like she's slowing down.**_

 _Haha! This is why I love JJ, I don't think I have EVER seen someone who is so consistent on what is arguably the most terrifying apparatus in women's gymnastics. Even in 2011, when she was coming back from that shoulder injury and she wasn't quite at full strength on the two apparatus she was doing, she got up in the final and just slammed it out of the park. Looking at the numbers of the top gymnasts for this year, the only person who can really challenge JJ at the moment is Simone Biles, but JJ is just so darn good on beam that, barring an absolute catastrophe, I don't really see it going to anyone else this year._

"Told you. Beam queen. It's madness," Will chuckled, getting a laugh and a playful slap from JJ.

 _ **Is Aly Raisman back in training? I miss her! I also miss seeing her and JJ together.**_

 _Don't you worry! Aly is back in training with the goal of making it to the October training camp, and gradually working her way towards next year's World Championships._

 _ **This is a bit of a beefy question. Jennifer Jareau has always been played out by the gymnastics world, and in particular, NBC, to be a bit weak on the uneven bars and vault, and therefore, also weak in the all-around. But she won bronze on bars and in the all-around at the Olympics, bronze on bars last year at Worlds, and looked crazy good on vault at Nationals! So I ask... is everyone going insane?**_

 _No, you're actually onto something there, something that has been bugging me for a very long time. By all intents and purposes, JJ is actually fabulous on all four events,-_

"They are literally the first person outside of Nick who has ever said that," JJ said in disbelief.

- _I mean, have you seen the girl swing bars? Her form is GORGEOUS. What gets JJ that not so great bars reputation is that, up until about this year, she hasn't been terribly consistent on it. Her scores in 2011 and 2012 fluctuated pretty wildly between 14.9 and 15.5, with her bronze at the Olympics being an outlier at 15.7 (don't worry, I think 'what the heck' every time I see it, but hey, if there's a medal on the line, you do you girl)-_

JJ laughed, shaking her head as she continued to read.

 _-so you can see it's just consistency, but she has gotten better in the last year (ignoring that wild bars routine at Classics last year, but we can forgive that because she was coming off the Olympics). Then there's her vault. There has never been anything wrong with her vault. Ever. The reason people THINK she's weaker on vault is because Tim Daggett acts like popping a shoulder mid vault is enough to warrant post traumatic stress disorder. From what I know, JJ has no mental issues with vault at all. In fact, she's planning to add a second vault AND upgrade her first by next year's Worlds, and that wouldn't even be in the plans if she wasn't comfortable with the apparatus. So moral is... don't listen to NBC. Look at the information and come to your own conclusion, because NBC's stories of people who are weak on this apparatus, and USA being weak on bars are actually wildly off base._

 _ **So many people seem to think Aliya Mustafina should have won all-around bronze in London. What do you think?**_

 _No. Sorry, I love Aliya with all my heart, but no. JJ broke 60 and had an absolutely fabulous day. Mustafina hit 59 and fell off the beam. If she had passed JJ with a fall on beam, I would have flown to London and reawarded that medal myself (just kidding. Sort of). They're both incredible gymnasts who have done and are still doing amazing things in the sport of gymnastics, but on that day, JJ was the better gymnast._

 _ **Why do you think JJ goes by her initials and not her first name? I noticed in London that even the BBC commentators called her JJ!**_

 _Hahaha! I'm not sure to be honest. Maybe if I ever get the chance to interview her, I'll ask her._

Chuckling as Will closed the laptop, JJ laid her head on his shoulder.

"I like that. It's cool, and pretty unbiased," she mused. "Wonder if I will ever get interviewed by her"

Will laughed. "Then you can share with the whole world why you go by JJ"

Grinning, JJ lifted her head.

"Too right"


	48. Chapter 48

**A/N: I need to stop staying up until 3am.**

* * *

"This year, we enter back into team competition at World Championships. This means, it is very important to take a strong team so that USA can defend the world title. To the girls who haven't made the team this year, please, keep working, there are many other opportunities to compete, and there is still next year," Marta said as all the girls lined up before her at the conclusion of the selection camp.

Much like the previous year, JJ was exhausted by the end of the camp, but the fire inside her was still burning for more. She was determined to make it to Worlds. If she survived another year, she was one year closer to Rio.

"The girls who will compete on the team are Simone Biles, Alyssa Baumann, Madison Desch, Jennifer Jareau, Madison Kocian, Kyla Ross, and Mykayla Skinner. I want to make it clear right now that one of you will be the travelling alternate, but I will make my final decision after podium training in China. Brenna Dowell and Ashton Locklear will act as non-travelling alternates"

Taking a breath, Marta smiled at the girls. "We have few more days of training before we leave for China. Please use it wisely"

"Thank you Marta, coaches, and national staff. Goodbye," the girls all said in unison, before being dismissed by Marta to head off for dinner and their few precious hours of free time they had in the evenings.

Walking straight over to Nick, JJ was smiling bigger than she felt she ever had. She'd done it, she'd proved herself yet again, and would have the opportunity once more to represent the United States at a world level.

"Oh, great work kiddo. How are you feeling?" Nick said warmly as he wrapped her up in a tight hug.

"Amazing," JJ said through a big sigh of relief. "I'm just so glad I made the team"

"You've worked your ass off all year to get back to Worlds, kid, you deserve it," Nick said happily, slinging an arm around JJ's shoulders as they started to walk out of the gym. "Aren't you glad I talked you out of that funk when you were recovering from the broken leg?"

"Oh my god, yes," JJ laughed, thinking back to the day she'd told Nick she didn't want to do gymnastics anymore.

After grabbing their bags, they left the stuffy gym and headed out towards the cabins with the other girls and their coaches. After an exhausting and gruelling selection camp, the atmosphere had lightened considerably, and the girls were laughing and joking together on their way back to the dorms. The girls who hadn't made the cut looked dejected, as was expected, but JJ knew they'd bounce back in no time.

Now, she had to call her parents. And she couldn't wait to tell them the news.

* * *

"Hey, Garcia, can you do something for me?" Emily Prentiss asked her colleague as she walked into the technical analyst's office.

Turning around, Penelope Garcia smiled at the older woman. "Of course, my kitten"

Emily chuckled. Garcia was probably the most eccentric person she'd ever met in her lifetime, but her quirkiness was coupled with a heart of absolute gold, and it all rolled into the package that Emily and the rest of her team loved to no end.

"I know I could Google this myself, but I figured since I know you watched the London Olympics, you might know something about a Jennifer Jareau?"

"The gymnast?" Garcia questioned.

Emily nodded with a grin. "That's the one"

"Why do you ask? I thought you didn't really take notice of sports?"

Emily shrugged. "Well, I don't, but I met her, when we were in Pittsburgh"

Garcia's jaw dropped. "You actually... met her? How? Are you sure it was her?"

Chuckling, Emily nodded. "I'm sure it was her. We kind of... bumped into each other, literally. And then later on, it turned out the gym I had to go to for information on Katherine O'Neill was her gym, and it was while I was talking to her coach that I learned she went to the Olympics"

"Oh Emily, you have no idea, you met a _superstar_ , and you barely even knew it!" Garcia exclaimed, grabbing Emily's hands and tugging her into the other chair.

"How good is she?"

"I'll show you," Garcia replied, tapping away ferociously at her computer until a YouTube video graced the screen. Clicking play, she clicked it to full screen.

" _With two Americans left to go on floor, the gold is almost certainly locked into place for these young girls. Gabby Douglas scored a 15.066 for her routine, which means Jennifer Jareau and Aly Raisman only need to average 12.266 to secure the gold medal!"_

" _But if I know JJ and Aly... they're going to score much higher than that"_

Emily watched as a younger JJ saluted the judges and stepped into position on the floor apparatus. Moments later, her music had begun, and she was tumbling seamlessly across the floor. The whole routine was a beautiful combination of dance and gymnastics, and by the time JJ was done, Emily was blown away.

"Oh wow," she muttered as she watched the emotion playing out amongst the four of the Fierce Five who knew even before Aly Raisman was done that they had won gold.

"She won five medals all together. Two golds, a silver, and a bronze. I don't know the first thing about gymnastics, but Em... that summer, those five girls had me glued to the TV. They became America's sweethearts overnight for that team gold, it was incredible," Garcia explained.

Nodding in agreement, Emily was silently impressed.

Maybe she'd have to keep an eye on the talented young woman from Pittsburgh.

* * *

" _Hey sweetie, how's the camp going?"_ her mother's voice greeted her as soon as the video call was accepted. _"Will and your dad are here too by the way"_

Making herself comfortable on the wooden bench she was sitting on near the dorms, JJ smiled. "Pretty good. Marta announced the team today"

" _And?"_ Michael asked anxiously.

JJ bit back a grin. "I'm going to Worlds?"

Hearing Will and her dad start cheering only made her laugh.

"Dad, it's my fourth Worlds team, is there ever going to come a day when it's _not_ that exciting?"

Sandy laughed in agreement, looking pointedly at her husband.

" _It'll always be exciting my girl, you're representing your country at the highest level of this sport, and I'm always going to be so proud of that,"_ Michael replied. _"I'll have to start packing tomorrow"_

" _JJ, that really is brilliant news, I'm really proud of you,"_ Sandy said warmly. _"Will's got something he wants to tell you, so I'll give you to him, ok? Well done my love, you deserve it after this year"_

Her parents' love and excitement only warmed her heart further. Giving them her thanks, she waited as her mom passed the phone to Will.

"Hey you," she said happily once he appeared on the screen.

" _Hey beautiful, how you doing down there in Texas?"_

"Can't complain," JJ giggled. "What about you?"

" _Well, I booked myself a holiday!"_

JJ laughed. "And where are you going? You never go on holidays"

" _See, I was having trouble deciding, but the travel agent helped me out. He told me I should visit this beautiful city in China, and, oh!"_ Will said, feigning surprise as he held up five slips of glossy card. _"He also got me great seats for the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Nanning! Wasn't sure on it at first, but now I'm pretty excited. I've heard about this amazing gymnast, her name's Jennifer Jareau..."_

Unable to contain her happiness, JJ had to laugh, her face reading all kinds of excitement.

"You're coming to Worlds?!" she exclaimed happily.

Chuckling, Will nodded. _"You bet I am. Wouldn't miss it for anything"_

Beaming with joy, JJ put a hand to her heart. "My god, I love you"

Will smiled back just as widely.

" _I love you too, JJ. So much"_


	49. Chapter 49

**A/N: For some reason, this chapter was really hard and I think it was because I've never properly watched the 2014 TF. Anyways.**

* * *

The weeks that had followed leading up to the opening of the World Championships had been what JJ could only liken to a hurricane of activity. Training, conditioning, strength training, recovery, packing for China, the long flight to Hong Kong, the delayed flight to Nanning which had left them stuck in Hong Kong's airport for nearly seven hours, all of which, upon arriving in Nanning, had been followed up with more training and then podium training.

Qualifications had passed in a blur. Inevitably, Madison Desch had been relegated to team alternate, as the other six girls had all shown stronger performances. The team had stormed through into the final with a comfortable lead over their closest competitor, the Chinese.

Individually, Simone and JJ had qualified to the all-around, beam, and floor finals. Simone had also qualified to the vault final, and JJ, the bars final. Kyla had qualified to the bars final as well, and Mykayla Skinner had qualified behind Simone for the vault final. She had also finished top eight for floor, but due to the two per country rule, being the third American qualified, she was not put through to the final.

And so it was, they were marching out into the arena for the team final. It was a bright, cheerful shade of blue, and the girls were all decked out in crimson red leotards, embellished with a simple white swirl below the neckline. Kyla, JJ and Simone had all added a red lipstick to the equation, and as a result, the team looked and felt like they were ready to win.

One by one, the teams were announced. First, the USA (Simone Biles, Jennifer Jareau, Mykayla Skinner, Kyla Ross, Alyssa Baumann, Madison Kocian), then China (Yao Jinnan, Chen Siyi, Tan Jiaxin, Shang Chunsong, Huang Huidan, Bai Yawen), Russia (Aliya Mustafina, Maria Kharenkova, Ekaterina Kramarenko, Tatiana Nabieva, Daria Spiridonova, Alla Sosnitskaya), Great Britain (Becky Downie, Claudia Fragapane, Gabrielle Jupp, Ruby Harrold, Kelly Simm, Hannah Whelan), Italy (Giorgia Campana, Erika Fasana, Vanessa Ferrari, Lavinia Marongiu, Lara Mori, Martina Rizzelli), Japan (Wakane Inoue, Azumi Ishikura, Yu Minobe, Mai Murakami, Asuka Teramoto, Natsumi Sasada), Romania (Larisa Iordache, Andreea Munteanu, Anamaria Ocolisan, Stefania Stanila, Paula Tudorache, Silva Zarzu) and Australia (Georgia-Rose Brown, Larrissa Miller, Olivia Vivian, Mary-Anne Monckton, Kiara Munteanu, Emma Nedov).

Some teams had already had their fair share of drama; Australia had been planning to have Lauren Mitchell compete (which JJ had been excited about, as she had always been friendly with Lauren when they saw each other at competitions), but she had unfortunately rolled both ankles in training, and was now watching from the stands. Romania had been unable to field five gymnasts to compete in qualifications on every event and had had to count lower than usual scores, which meant they had just made it into the final in seventh place.

Just like in the Olympics two years earlier, JJ was sitting vault for the team final, with Kyla, Mykayla, and Simone leading off their competition. Marta had been tossing over whether to put JJ or Kyla on vault, as they scored in the same margin, but had ultimately decided to keep JJ off to prevent her from competing all-around three times in three days.

It was a calm entrance to competition, with Kyla performing a beautiful and solid DTY to score a 15.100, which was a fabulous start for the girls. She had done her job beautifully, not showing any signs of pressure or nerves, which was exactly how everyone had expected her to perform.

Mykayla was up next. It was her first major competition, but if she was nervous about it, she didn't look it.

"Come on Mykayla, you got this!" JJ called as she leant against the edge of the podium, her grips already on her wrists, her team trackpants sitting low on her waist. As the oldest of the six girls, they had all chosen her as their team captain for the competition, a leadership role that JJ had never really seen herself rising to, but was growing into it with each routine that passed.

Mykayla was off, rocketing down the runway and hurdling into a Cheng, the hardest vault being done in the competition. She wrapped it in beautifully, landing it confidently in an upright position.

"Yeah! Nice Mykayla!" JJ cheered with the girls as the crowd clapped loudly. Mykayla looked incredibly pleased; her first Worlds were off to a good start.

Simone's Amanar that followed was oh so typically Simone; high, flighty, and clean, with a good landing, to post the highest of the three scores.

Even with the other rotations still to finish, it was clear they were going to lead the final all the way around.

* * *

" _So we're almost at the halfway point of the third rotation with just one American left to go on beam, and this should be a good routine from the reigning world and Olympic balance beam champion"_

Bars had gone by surprisingly well for the Americans, who had developed a sticky reputation for being weak on the apparatus. But with JJ, Kyla, and inexperienced Madison Kocian, they had done a beautiful job on keeping the momentum going for Team USA.

Beam so far had also gone equally as well. Rather than going with the score building lineup she usually used, Marta had decided to bookend Alyssa, the rookie of the team, with Simone going first and JJ going last. It was a strategy that worked; a high 14 and a mid 14 from Simone and Alyssa respectively meant the pressure on JJ had lessened.

Seeing as someone was on floor, JJ's name was never announced. Instead, once she got her green light, she simply saluted, and readied herself.

With a short run, she punched off the springboard, flipping easily through the air.

The flip felt good, but when her feet landed on the beam, one of them was almost totally off.

" _Oh GOSH!"_

Her weight fell to one side, and all JJ could think was to throw it back the opposite way, her arms flailing as she tried to save it.

For a moment, she was sure she was going to come off, but miraculously, she didn't. The American supporters in the building all cheered, as did the team.

"Nice JJ!"

"Come on girl, you got it!"

" _Wow. That was a big mistake, right off the top of the exercise. She's probably going to be a little rattled now"_

" _That was probably almost a point in deductions right there"_

"Come on JJ, you got it!" came Simone's voice, loud and clear from the sidelines.

Up in the audience, Will, Michael, and Sandy had all been gripping the edges of their seats, the stress radiating off them like heatwaves. A collective sigh of relief had escaped them all when JJ pulled it together and saved it without falling.

The rest of the routine was good, if not a little shaky, but by the time she'd dismounted, JJ was feeling quite unsure. Twice this year now she had had a major mistake on beam in competition. What was Marta going to say about that?

"I messed up," she said quietly as she walked down the stairs to join Nick, her face reading anxiety and defeat.

"But you saved it," Nick reminded her softly, putting a hand on her back as they walked over to join the rest of the team. "You saved the fall and did a great job with the rest of the routine, even if it was a little shaky"

Simone was the first of the girls to reach her, giving her a tight squeeze and a big grin.

"I was freaking out, I thought you were gonna fall, and then you saved it, and I was like 'damn girl!'" she jabbered away as Kyla hugged JJ quickly. JJ managed a laugh as Simone giggled; something about the tiny little powerhouse of a girl never failed to brighten JJ's mood.

Trying to shake away the upset of beam, JJ moved over to her bag to get ready for floor.

Time to pretend the mistake had never happened.

* * *

It was with three very solid routines that the USA closed out their second consecutive world team title. JJ had shaken off her unusual beam routine to deliver a strong start, her bright smile finding its way back to her face as she danced and tumbled her way through the electric choreography of her routine. Mykayla had followed, her difficulty soaring almost as high as Simone's, and her smile at the end proving she was happy with the job she had done.

Simone had, as expected, posted the highest floor score with an exciting routine that had the crowd clapping and cheering along with her. When her score had gone up on the board, the girls were a clear seven points ahead of silver medallists, China, and had celebrated with an excited huddle.

Considering half the team, plus the alternate, Maddie Desch, had never been to Worlds, it was an exciting atmosphere as they stood on the podium, receiving their medals for all their hard work.

JJ was smiling from ear to ear as she stood beside Simone, her eyes scanning the crowd before her to see if she could spot her parents and Will.

"Oh hey, we _are_ all in red!" came Simone's voice to her right, making both JJ and the lady presenting the medals laugh. True enough, every gymnast on the podium that day was in a red leotard.

Medals were presented, the flags were raised, and the anthem was played.

As she followed the girls out to the media zone, Simone at her side, JJ had completely shaken off what happened on beam. She would simply make sure it didn't happen again in the individual finals.

Besides, it was her fourth World Championships.

Time to loosen up and have a little fun.

* * *

 **Skill Guide**

 _Cheng –_ a Yurchenko family vault. From the roundoff, the gymnast does a half turn onto the table, followed by one and a half twists off in a forward stretched salto. Named after Chinese gymnast Cheng Fei, who famously led her young and inexperienced team to China's first ever team gold medal at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.


	50. Chapter 50

**A/N: Updates will slow down now because I'm actually going to be motivated and work hard on my uni stuff this year so I can finally graduate!**

* * *

" _ **Idk, JJ's not been great on beam this year. First that mistake on beam at the Classic, on a skill she's probably been doing since she was 10, then that fuck up in the team finals. She's lucky they have Simone, or that mistake might have cost them gold. Will be interesting to see if Marta keeps relying on her so-called 'beam queen'"**_

" _ **Everyone raves and raves about JJ, but like... she's not that great IMO? She's been a hot mess all year, Marta should've moved on once the broken leg happened. All we hear about is her five medals from London... should've been three"**_

" _ **Blah blah blah, Jennifer Jareau's so great... nah. She's good on beam. Forgettable everywhere else"**_

Slamming her laptop shut, JJ dropped her head down to her arms in defeat.

Morning training was over, and so for the few hours they had before the all-around final, the girls were enjoying some downtime in the common area of their hotel. With Simone chilling out to music beside her, JJ had decided to check her social media, which had led to the discovery of some less than nice Tumblr posts.

"You alright JJ?"

Sitting up at the sound of her coach's voice, she was suddenly overwhelmed by hot tears spilling down her cheeks. Without hesitating, Nick immediately got JJ to her feet and guided her out of the common area towards a little alcove with two armchairs and a small table in it, leaving a bewildered Simone to wonder what on earth had just happened.

Slowly sitting down in one of the chairs, JJ accepted the tissues Nick held out to her, wiping her eyes and then her nose as Nick sat down across from her.

"You ok?" he asked softly.

JJ nodded, lifting her gaze to meet her coach's as she clasped her hands together beneath her chin.

"I just... saw some comments... on Tumblr"

"What did they say?" Nick said calmly.

"That I'm a hot mess... that my mistake on beam in team finals was a fuck up that could've cost us the gold if we didn't have Simone, and that Marta should've stopped having any faith in me after I broke my leg. And... that I should have only had three medals in London"

Nick shook his head. "JJ, I know I'm biased because I'm your coach, but none of that is true. Yeah, you've been a little nervy in competition since your injury, but I wouldn't go as far to say you're a hot mess. If you'd fallen on every event both nights of nationals, maybe. But as it is, you only had a mistake on beam at the Classic and a few iffy moments at nationals. No-one can expect you to be perfect all the time. You're a fighter, you never give up on anything, and that's why Marta has faith in you, because you are good at what you do and you always pull through when she needs it. And as for the team finals... yes you made a mistake, but you saved it, you didn't fall. And I don't know what rock that person is living under, but Simone didn't put you guys seven points ahead all on her own. That was a cumulative effort from all six of you. Simone didn't even compete all four events," Nick explained. "And yes, you should have five medals from London. You hit when it counted and you were rewarded for that. Whoever said that is probably just bitter that you beat someone they liked"

Swallowing thickly, JJ nodded.

"What I'm trying to get to you, JJ, is that for every nasty comment someone makes on social media, there will be ten others that are lovely. People are bitter and cruel, and it's easy for them to talk shit about people like you behind the safety of their computer screen. I think you're just tired and a little overwhelmed by everything right now. Don't let it get to you, ok? Use it as fuel to go out there and prove them wrong, and in the meantime? Maybe stay off Tumblr"

Looking up, JJ noticed Nick's grin, and managed a weak smile of her own.

"You got this, ok? No melting down on me, you're tougher than that," Nick said warmly as they both got to their feet again.

Taking a deep breath, JJ nodded.

"I've got this"

* * *

" _Now we've got the first of the two Americans to take their attempt at the uneven bars"_

Dressed in a dazzling hot pink, both Simone and JJ had vaulted their way to the top of the leaderboard in the first rotation. Simone had made no mention of the morning's upset, and JJ had done her absolute best to put it out of her mind and focus on the final ahead of her.

Having qualified in second, she would be going first on the uneven bars. As she stood waiting for her green light, she focused on every skill she was competing, visualising the routine all the way through to a stuck dismount.

Looking up, she saw the red light turn to green, and immediately presented to the judges.

Adjusting her grips one last time, she took a deep breath, before jumping into her kip and beginning the routine.

Her first skills, which were some simpler circles and turns on the low bar, felt strong. Keeping her body tight and clean, she transitioned to the high bar, continuing straight up into a handstand and doing a half turn so she was facing the right way for her first big release.

Swinging down, she arched her body through the swing, kicking up near the top and releasing the bar as she flew back into her Tkatchev.

She was a little far away when she caught the bar, but sure that she had it, she swung down again, her muscles already prepping for the next skill.

But halfway down, she felt the dowels in her grips slip back over the bar, and before she knew it, she'd slipped from the apparatus and was lying on her back on the mat, looking up at the ceiling.

" _Oh boy... this is not good for Jennifer Jareau, that's a full point off just for a fall"_

" _That is going to take her out of gold medal contention, unless both Larisa Iordache and Simone Biles have falls as well"_

Biting her lip to keep her resolve, she pulled herself up and headed over to the chalk bucket.

"Come on JJ, you got it!" she heard Simone call from the sidelines.

"Push it out of your head," she heard Nick say as he walked up to her. "Are you ok?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," JJ said shortly, dusting the excess chalk from her grips before walking back over to the bars.

"Yeah JJ, let's go!" Will called out encouragingly from up in the stands. The three of them watching her had been on the edge of their seats, and had watched in defeat as she slipped from the bars. It had felt like they were watching in slow motion, with nothing they could do or say to stop it.

Jumping back up, JJ wasted no time in completing her routine. The rest of it was completely on, so typically gorgeous, but the damage was done. After saluting the judges, she walked from the podium, filled with frustration and doubt. Why did she have to keep making stupid mistakes? She'd been getting better on bars, and now she'd once again fallen.

"Don't beat yourself up," Nick said knowingly as he met her at the bottom of the stairs. " _You_ had a grip on the bar, unfortunately, the dowels weren't all the way around, ok? You did the best you could do"

"I still fell," she said, her voice a little harsher than she'd intended to sound.

"You fell, but you finished it and minimised the deductions. You've got your two best events coming up, so don't let it rattle you. The competition isn't over," Nick said encouragingly.

Nodding slightly, JJ walked back over to her bag, getting a quick hug from Simone, who was on her way up to do her routine. Feeling just a little defeated, she sat down and started removing her grips. She forced herself to think about beam, in an attempt to ignore the pit of frustration that was now lingering in the bottom of her stomach.

* * *

By the time beam had come around, JJ had lightened up considerably. She had taken the chance to showcase her ability on the apparatus, nailing a stellar routine that, if she repeated in the finals, would have her as world champion for the third consecutive time. Dismounting with a huge smile, she had beamed the entire time following her routine, the frustration from bars disappearing in a flash.

Floor had gone just as well as beam, with the crowd enjoying her upbeat routine and clapping along as she danced and smiled her way through her final exercise of the day. She had scored a solid 14.800, but it wasn't enough to put her ahead of the Romanian, Larisa Iordache, who was currently holding the lead, with only Simone left to go. However, JJ was guaranteed a medal, and she was happy with that; she had put aside the disappointment from bars and fought her way back onto the podium.

Simone's electric routine once again had the crowd cheering and clapping along, and by the time she had landed her final tumbling pass, it was very clear that yet again, she was the world all-around champion. And JJ couldn't have been prouder of her young teammate. She was forging ahead of the pack at an astounding rate, something which JJ knew was a privilege to witness.

She was sure that the great things Simone Biles was destined to do hadn't even begun yet.

* * *

Medals around their necks, and flowers in hand, the three gymnasts stood proudly on the podium as the three flags were raised to the sound of the anthem of the United States. She had spotted her parents and Will directly opposite the podium, waving to them as she'd stepped up to receive her bronze medal. All three of them looked thrilled, and it did wonders for her confidence; it wasn't gold, but she'd made her family proud. That was more than enough.

As the anthem ended, they turned back to the front of the podium. Seeing the photographers, JJ turned towards Simone and Larisa to see what they wanted to do for photos, but the two were already in conversation. JJ watched as Larisa pointed at Simone's flowers.

"Simone... look, there's a bee," she heard Larisa say as Simone frowned and looked down at her bouqet. The event announcer was drowning out most of the sound as he talked about how the top eight finishers would receive invites to the World Cup series.

And then the tiniest of the three let out a mighty scream.

"THERE'S A BEE!" she shrieked, shaking her flowers wildly and ducking down towards JJ as the bee flew towards her head. JJ and Larisa were both laughing, with JJ taking a step back so as not to be knocked over by her teammate. In an attempt to escape, Simone leapt off the podium, running wildly back and forth behind it before throwing her flowers to the ground. With tears of laughter in her eyes, JJ stepped back onto the floor momentarily, before resuming her place on the podium.

"Oh my god, Simone!" she laughed. JJ had tears of laughter in her eyes as Simone grabbed her flowers and quickly leapt back up to the podium, before ducking in fright and running behind Larisa as the bee flew back towards her. It quickly changed directions, flying towards JJ, who held out her flowers in the hopes it would land on them. When it did, she carefully sat the bouquet down on her podium before joining Larisa and Simone at the top for photos.

When they all looked at each other, they started to laugh.

JJ felt back to her old self. And as was quite common... it had only taken some antics from Simone to cheer her up.

Bring on event finals.


	51. Chapter 51

**A/N: Heaps more to come (and I promise my other stories will get love too!)**

* * *

" _You guys are killing it, I can't wait to see you in event finals tomorrow!"_

"Thanks Aly," JJ said with a smile as she leant back against her pillows. Kyla was sitting on her own bed, towelling her hair dry after a long and relaxing shower.

" _And don't worry about the fall on bars girl... I'd have done the same thing"_

JJ laughed. "Hey, after drug testing, it was the least of my worries"

" _Why's that?"_

"Well, I had to declare my birth control prior to the competition, and Nick gets reminded of that every time they screen us," JJ said with a giggle.

Aly laughed. _"What did he say?"_

"When I first filled out the form, he was like 'don't say anymore, I don't want to know''," JJ said with a grin. Kyla giggled, having been there to witness the exchange a couple of days before they'd left for China. The look on Nick's face had been absolutely priceless.

" _Ah well, I'm sure it wasn't that much of a surprise. But changing the subject, how are all the girls? Everyone coping ok?"_

JJ looked at Kyla with a grin. "Kyla and I are doing fine. Simone is Simone... nothing fazes her. And the other three seem to be doing really well for their first worlds. Alyssa and Maddie were a little nervy and shaky before qualifications, but once we got through the first event, they were fine. And Mykayla is as tough as she looks. She hasn't seemed nervous at all"

" _Aw, that's really good. Remember our first worlds? I wanted to throw up before qualifications, and then you dislocated your shoulder and got carried out of the arena in agony. Then I was like 'oh shit, I'm on my own!'"_

JJ laughed. "Mhm, yeah, I definitely remember that. Thankfully, Tokyo was a much better experience"

" _Definitely"_

"So how's training going?"

" _I'm dying, JJ, I'm literally dead. Mihai finally let me back on the apparatus on Monday, and I started working skills, but I got home last night, and my legs gave out as soon as I got inside. Don't get me wrong... I love it, and I want to be back at full strength so much, but my body is HATING on me so badly. I was talking to McKayla and she was like "I'll trade you my broken legs! They're probably not much use but I can at least stand!""_

JJ and Kyla laughed.

"That sounds like Mac," JJ chuckled.

" _So how many times this week have you kicked Kyla out for a sneaky midnight romp with Will?"_

JJ's cheeks burned red while Kyla burst out laughing.

"She hasn't kicked me out," she said, her grin growing wider. "Marta laid down the law before we left"

" _What did she say?!"_

JJ giggled. "She was going on about how the team title is very important so we must put our best efforts forward, and then she started rattling off all the distractions we have to avoid. Simone got read the riot act about not mucking around at midnight when she should be sleeping, and I got a really scary glare followed up with a 'no boyfriends!', and I swear all the girls nearly exploded from trying to hold in their laughter"

" _Oh my god, I would have lost it, that's so funny. How does she even know?"_

"Well, she's not ancient Aly, I'm sure she has access to a computer. It wasn't like it stayed a secret from the general public for very long"

" _True. Anyway, I'm gonna let you go, you guys need your sleep. Go kill it in event finals! I love you!"_

"We love you too Aly!" JJ called back. After bidding their goodbyes, she ended the call, flopping back onto her pillows.

"I'm so beat," she moaned, getting a chuckle out of Kyla.

"Better get your rest. Silver won't do for the beam queen," Kyla teased lightly, reaching over and turning off the bedside lamp as they slid under their covers.

JJ smiled.

"That it won't"

* * *

After the excitement of the bee in the all-around finals, the remaining event finals had gone off without a hitch.

Simone and Mykayla had stormed through vault, but despite being the favourite for gold, Simone had had to settle for silver behind 2008 Olympic vault champion, Hong un-Jong on North Korea, with Mykayla just behind her for the bronze medal. Both girls, however, were elated with their results; it wasn't always about winning.

Uneven bars had seen JJ win her tenth world medal, which effectively tied her with Alicia Sacramone for the most number of world championship medals won by an American gymnast. Putting aside the difficulties she'd had in the all-around, she had finally performed a complete hit routine and had tied with Daria Spiridonova of Russia for the bronze. Kyla, comparatively, had struggled with her difficulty, and hadn't scored high enough to secure a medal. Yao Jinnan, however, had come away with her first major international gold medal, and JJ was thrilled for her; she'd been competing with Jinnan since 2011, and had always admired the beauty and finesse the younger girl performed her gymnastics with.

Balance beam had been a nailbiter of a final, but as expected, JJ had shown full command of the apparatus and had soared to the top of the podium for the fourth year running, a feat that was starting to become very impressive in gymnastics circles. Simone, who had shown great improvement on beam since the previous year, had had to settle for silver, while Bai Yawen of China came away with bronze, edging out Mustafina of Russia, who for some reason, hadn't completed a required acrobatic series in the routine.

The close of the 2014 World Championships had seen Simone win her third gold medal of the competition on floor, while Larisa Iordache took silver, and JJ, yet again, took bronze.

It was cause for celebration that night, because with her two medals she'd earned on beam and floor that day, JJ had not only passed Alicia Sacramone to become the most decorated world gymnast in America... including the five medals she had won in London, she had passed Shannon Miller as the most decorated gymnast overall, with seventeen World and Olympic medals to Shannon's sixteen.

Humble as ever, JJ hadn't made a great fuss over the achievement (even though Simone had). They were only halfway through the quad, and there was still work to do.

There was no time to rest... not even for America's most decorated elite gymnast.


	52. Chapter 52

**A/N: This is long but I think it's my favourite chapter yet!**

* * *

JJ had not expected the homecoming from the world championships to be as crazy as the Olympics, but somehow, it had felt like it.

Now that her position as one of America's greatest gymnasts was clear, sponsorships, endorsements, and professional opportunities had rolled in overnight. Some of them were incredibly exciting opportunities that JJ knew she couldn't pass up. The jewellery company, Pandora, who had already worked with Aly on a small line of products, now wanted to work with both her and JJ to create a new line of bracelet charms, something JJ was keen to start on. As well as that, GK Elite also wanted to create a signature _Jennifer Jareau_ line of leotards designed by JJ, and while she didn't fancy herself much of a designer, JJ was excited to see what that held.

Having decided to take a short break and return to gymnastics in December, JJ had spent the first two weeks after Worlds doing a number of photoshoots, interviews, and promotion for the upcoming American Cup (even though it was months away, USA Gymnastics was keen to get a jump on the upcoming season, as it was the final season before the Olympic year).

At that very point in time, however, she was about to do a phone interview with the girl who had started the website _The Gymternet,_ Lauren Hopkins. Her agent had contacted her about it earlier in the week, and JJ had eagerly agreed; she had been waiting for the opportunity to talk to the lovely girl who always wrote such nice things about her.

The phone rang at exactly 10am, as if it were on cue. Letting it ring twice, JJ picked it up on the third ring.

"Hello?"

" _JJ, it's Lucy. I've got Lauren on the other line waiting to be patched through, are you ready to go?"_

"Yeah, I'm all good"

" _I've told her you don't have a lot of time-"_

"Lucy, I literally have all day," JJ laughed. "If we end up talking for ages, it's fine"

" _Ok, well, that's your call. I'll put her through now"_

"Thanks Luce," JJ replied, listening as the line clicked over and Lucy's call ended.

" _Hi, is that JJ?"_

"That would be me," JJ said with a smile. "Lauren, right?"

" _Yes, hi! How are you?"_

"I'm really good, how are you?"

" _Pretty good. Thank you so much for taking the time to chat with me, I've been pretty excited about this!"_

"Not at all, the pleasure's all mine," JJ said sweetly. "I'm excited to do something different. I've never done a phone interview"

" _Well, there you go, we both get to do something cool today"_

JJ laughed.

" _So, shall we get straight into it?"_

"Sure!"

" _Ok then. You've just come back from the world championships with five more medals to add to your collection, and you've officially become the most decorated gymnast in American history. How do you feel about that, and how do you feel about how the competition went?"_

"Being able to say I'm currently the most decorated American gymnast is pretty amazing, it's definitely an honour. I've worked really hard in all aspects of my gymnastics, not just to get to worlds or the Olympics, but also to get to make my mark on our gymnastics history, so I definitely feel very privileged to be able to say that. I'm enjoying it for now because no doubt Simone will pass me very quickly. But on a day to day basis, I don't think about it to be honest. When we get to Nationals next year, I have to prove myself just like everyone else, so I have to work just as hard as everyone else every day. As for worlds, I'm pretty happy with how the competition went. Obviously, falling off bars in the all-around was not ideal at all, but I'm glad I pulled it together to get a bronze, if only to witness the bee incident upfront"

Lauren burst out laughing. _"That was probably my favourite moment from the entire meet, was it as chaotic in person as it looked on the video?"_

"It was crazy, but it was so funny, Larisa and I couldn't stop laughing. Trust me, I have not let Simone forget it since it happened"

Lauren chuckled, shuffling something nearby as JJ waited for her next question.

" _Next year is a big year for you guys, Olympic qualification begins with the team final at worlds. Knowing the US's history, that shouldn't be an issue, but how are you feeling about your chances of making it to worlds and helping the team qualify?"_

"I feel pretty good, not to be cocky or anything, but if I stay healthy and consistent, I think I have a pretty good shot of going to worlds again"

" _Any upgrades planned for next year or the year after?"_

"I think the better question would've been "what aren't you upgrading?"" JJ laughed. "I have upgrades across the board planned, the majority of which should be back in by nationals. Obviously my beam routine is going back up to how it was in 2012, with a few potential connections that I didn't have before. I'm upgrading my vault to an Amanar and adding a second vault, because I would love to be able to make a vault final since it's the only one I haven't achieved yet. My floor tumbles are getting reworked in preparation for a new routine in 2016, and my bars connections are being tweaked to allow for more consistency, so I'm going to be super busy between now and August"

" _I'm excited to see how that all goes! Sounds like you're making some serious changes, everyone's going to love it"_

"I hope so!"

" _No more broken legs we hope!"_

JJ laughed. "No, no broken legs. I got told not to come back to the gym until December so that I can have a little rest and reduce the risk of injury"

" _What are your biggest goals heading into the end of the quad?"_

"Just to stay at my absolute best and keep being able to represent the USA on an international stage, and hopefully, that'll help me achieve my goal of making the Olympic team in 2016"

" _You've already done this journey once, is anything different this time around? Do you feel like you know the process a little better?"_

"People seem to think it's easier the second time around... Aly and I both agree that it's harder. We know what it takes to make that team, and it's exhausting! We've done it once, so the thought of the next two years makes me feel really tired, but I know now that for every day when we feel like we can't go on, making that team is so worth it"

" _I've seen many people remarking about how much you've changed since the London Olympics. Do you feel like you've changed and grown since then?"_

"Definitely! Physically, I've changed, I've grown a little bit since the Olympics, but I think I would agree with the general consensus that mentally I've changed as well. I was definitely quite shy, doubted myself, and was probably a little vulnerable in London. But seeing what I was capable of was the biggest shift in my life, it showed me I could put myself out there a little more. And, being around Simone has also helped me confidence wise. I feel like I'm more outgoing on the sidelines now, and I don't look as serious when I'm competing"

" _Well, you were showcasing some serious moves with Mykayla Skinner at nationals!"_

"Oh my god, the dabbing competition, she was challenging everyone to dab for the TV camera! It was ridiculous, but it was funny because Simone and I were the only ones who would actually do it"

" _That was really funny to watch"_

"It lightened the mood, we like to laugh and have fun at competitions"

" _What competitions can we expect to see you at leading up to Nationals?"_

"Well, I have a feeling I'm going to be offered an American Cup spot, but I don't plan on taking it if I am. December to March is a really short period of time, and I'd much rather focus on consolidating my upgrades and then hopefully going to Jesolo later in the spring. Besides, I have a lot of international experience, I'd rather that spot went to a girl who could use the experience more. So let's just stick with Jesolo and the US Classic for now"

" _We'll put the gymnastics questions aside now. Gymnastics fans have coined 'the gymternet' as a name for the online gymnastics community-"_

"That is so clever!" JJ laughed. Lauren chuckled.

" _Anyway, at Worlds this year, NBC found your parents sitting in the stands with a young man who I believe is your boyfriend?"_

JJ grinned. "Yep, that's Will"

" _Everyone thinks it's adorable that he came to Worlds, and I think everyone was wondering, if you wanted to say, how you two met?"_

"Will and I have literally known each other since we were about eight or nine. He moved from New Orleans and ended up in my class at the local elementary school, so yes, he still has the Southern accent," JJ chuckled. "I didn't have many friends as a kid because I preferred to keep to myself, but Will kind of forced his way in and we ended up being like the power friendship duo in our grade. Now... fast forward to about... 2010. It must've been around the time I became a senior. Anyway, I have a reputation for being about as observational as a brick wall-"

Lauren laughed.

"-but apparently, according to my mother, Will flirted with me for almost two whole years leading up to London, and I never noticed"

" _Not once?!"_

"Not once," JJ replied with a grin. "But then he told me how he felt when I got home from the Olympics, and after the Kellogg's tour, we made it official, and it's been amazing ever since"

" _That is just too cute"_

"Yeah," JJ laughed. "He's witnessed this whole process once, and he's been there through all of the gymnastics craziness, so he understands. It's hard for us to spend time together at the moment because of all the commitments professional gymnastics brings, but it's worth it"

" _On the topic of NBC, during London, Aly's parents went viral for their nervous reactions during her routines. I'm not sure if you knew, but your dad also gained some popularity for his excited reactions to your routines"_

JJ laughed again. "That wouldn't surprise me at all! I could fall four times in one routine and he would still jump up and down after the dismount like I killed it. He really is my number one cheerleader, and it's so encouraging to have him in the stands at all my competitions"

" _Your parents seem to be wonderfully supportive, but in very different ways"_

"Definitely," JJ agreed. "My dad is the one who's right out there, cheering and jumping up and down. My mom definitely gets that excited as well, but she contains it better. She's the one who cries over my achievements, which is kind of nice in a way because they balance each other out. Although I believe even my dad shed a few tears over my gold medals in London," she chuckled. "I'm very close to my parents and I'm grateful for everything they do for me. Their support means the world, because I wouldn't be able to do this without them"

" _Now, this is a question I got asked in the Q &A section of my website a while back. Apparently lots of people wonder why you go by your initials instead of your first name!"_

JJ burst out laughing. "Honestly? I've gone by JJ for so long that I don't know if I can actually answer that. From what I remember, it had something to do with me thinking Jennifer was too girly for me, so I picked my own nickname at the ripe old opinionated age of four. And it just stuck, even my mom calls me JJ now, and she's the one who swore when my siblings and I were born that we would never have nicknames, we would always go by our given names. The only time I ever hear my actual name used is when it's being announced at a competition or for a team"

" _Is it weird when you hear your full name?"_

"Yes," JJ laughed. "It's funny actually, the only time I ever did a double take on it was at my first worlds, and Aly had to poke me forward and was like "that's you!". Back when I became elite, they actually tried to figure out a way to announce me at nationals using JJ instead of my first name, but with everyone being announced by their first and surname, it sounded too weird"

" _You're like the Beyonce of the gym world, could you imagine being announced as JJ at the Olympics?"_

"It would be hilarious and weird," JJ laughed. "But I'll take Beyonce of the gym world!"

Lauren laughed along with her, sounding as relaxed and happy as she did on her website. _"That's pretty much all the questions I had for you JJ, so thank you again for speaking with me, it's made my entire week"_

JJ beamed. "I know gymnastics has a huge fanbase here, but we are just normal people too. Just between you and me though, while I love Lucy to death, she can be super uptight about the things I do, so I'm gonna make a reach here. I'm going to send you my email privately on Twitter, and if you ever want to ask me anything, feel free to message me"

" _You don't have to do that!"_

"I know, but I want to!" JJ insisted with a grin.

" _Well, I'll guard it with my life, thank you!"_

A few more minutes of easy chatter passed before the two girls decided to part ways and continue on with their days. Thanking Lauren for her time, JJ bid her goodbyes, before hanging up and doing exactly what she had said she would do in sending Lauren her email.

The interview had been easy and fun, and she only hoped she would get to do more like that in the future.

* * *

Feeling particularly worn out, it was sprawled out on the lounge room floor watching movies that JJ had decided to spend her lazy Saturday, occasionally drifting to her computer to look over some of the rough designs she'd come up with for the GK line.

Less than ten minutes after she'd made herself comfortable again following lunch, someone knocked at the front door.

Sighing, she pulled herself up.

"I'll get it!" she called as she walked into the entryway.

Not bothering to look through the peephole, she pulled the door open, completely not expecting to see the person who was standing on the front porch.

"Grandma!" she exclaimed happily, throwing her arms around the grandmother she only saw once or twice a year. "I didn't know you were coming"

Theresa beamed, hugging her youngest grandchild tightly as she saw her daughter come into the entryway. "I told your mother to keep it a surprise"

Letting go of JJ, Theresa turned to Sandy, embracing her daughter in a warm and loving hug.

"Hi Mom," Sandy said happily. "How was your flight?"

"Oh you know, the usual. Too cold, too cramped, don't they know an old girl like me needs the leg room? I know what will fix it though," Theresa replied, looking at JJ with a glint in her eye. "Perhaps a spot of shopping?"

JJ grinned.

"I like that idea"

Sandy rolled her eyes, breaking into a grin as she rolled her mom's suitcase to be tucked away under the stairs.

"Well, I did bring you here to surprise JJ, so why don't you go and have some downtime at the mall, and I'll get everything ready for you for when you come back?"

"No, Mom, you should come with us," JJ said quickly. "You're always doing stuff to keep us all on track, but the house won't fall apart if you relax for a couple of hours as well"

Smiling, Sandy reached over, squeezing JJ's hand.

"Alright. Give me a minute to go and get changed"

As she left the room, Theresa draped an arm around JJ's shoulders and kissed her granddaughter's cheek.

"Your big heart has never changed, my beautiful girl"

* * *

With bags of new things, the trio had settled into the booth of a busy cafe to enjoy a coffee and a snack before heading home for the evening.

"So, my JJ, your mother failed to mention until recently that there's a boy in your life?"

JJ smiled. "Do you remember me telling you about Will?"

Theresa nodded. "Your friend from school?"

"Well, we're together now. We have been for nearly two years"

Theresa shook her head with a cheeky grin. "See now, my dear Sandy never mentioned that"

"It slipped my mind!" Sandy insisted. "There was always something else to tell you. Another medal, another team, another terrifying skill"

JJ and Theresa laughed.

"See now JJ, I think your mother avoids telling me anything to do with boys, even if they're not relevant to her, ever since I caught her with her first boyfriend when she was fifteen," Theresa said cheekily.

JJ turned to her mom, raising her eyebrows. "Oh really?"

"Nothing happened," Sandy muttered, fighting back a grin as she sipped her coffee. "It was hot, and we didn't have air conditioning"

"It was the middle of winter and that boy was butt naked"

JJ burst out laughing, nearly choking on her drink as her mother shook her head in defeat.

"Grandma, I love your stories," she said with a cheeky laugh, glancing at her mother.

"Mom, JJ doesn't need any more encouragement," Sandy replied with a chuckle, playfully nudging her daughter.

Theresa winked at JJ. "Tell Will to glove it up or your gran will kick his butt"

"We're fine," JJ giggled, a pink flush touching her cheeks.

"Just don't give Michael any indication of that knowledge," Sandy laughed. "I'm pretty sure he's figured it out, but he wants to play dumb because JJ's his baby girl"

JJ grinned. "I promise you'll like Will when you finally meet him though Grandma. He's really sweet"

"He better be!" Theresa said playfully.

Sandy nodded. "No, he really is Mom. There are whole months where he and JJ communicate entirely through text messages, and I've never seen a boy so understanding of not being able to see his girlfriend all the time. He's not bad on the eyes either. Very handsome young man"

After a few moments silence while they drank their coffee, JJ spoke up again.

"Gran, did you manage to see Worlds?"

"Of course I did!" Theresa exclaimed. "Wasn't going to miss it. You were incredible. That young one you were competing with though... whatever happened when you got your medals wasn't very professional was it?"

JJ laughed. "That's Simone, and she was scared of getting stung by the bee in her flowers. She's a beautiful girl though, you can't help but smile around her. I'm sure you'll get to meet her one day"

The rest of the afternoon passed with many stories swapped, more jokes at each other's expense (mostly about Sandy's escapades as a teenager), and life passing on around them in a slow walk rather than a fast rush.

She loved gymnastics. But moments like this were what made JJ who she was. These were the moments she wanted to keep forever.


	53. Chapter 53

**A/N: This chapter has a very different feel to it, but I absolutely love it so I hope you do too!**

* * *

"Will, where are we going?"

It was a question she'd asked maybe ten times in the last fifteen minutes, and was yet to find out the answer to.

It was a Friday. After a long week of fielding various media and sponsorship commitments, JJ had been awoken by her mother at 7am for unknown reasons. She'd then spent the morning being coaxed into packing an overnight bag after being told that Will had a surprise for her.

She still had no idea where they were going, and judging from the route numbers, it looked like they were heading away from Pittsburgh.

"You'll have to wait and see darlin'," Will said warmly, a cheeky grin playing around his mouth. "I promise you'll like it"

"How do I know you're not taking me to your secret lair to butcher me up and sell me on the internet?" JJ joked.

Will laughed. "Your sense of humour is appallin' JJ. Besides, we've been together for two years. Don't you think I would've done it by now?"

"You never know with these murderer types," JJ chuckled. Will shook his head, grinning at his girlfriend's twisted sense of humour.

They fell into a comfortable silence, nothing but the sound of the radio between them. Leaning her head against the window, JJ watched as the scenery of Pennsylvania whipped by them beneath a dreary grey sky. Deciding to stop pressing the matter of where they were going, she decided to just enjoy the drive.

As the time passed by, JJ allowed her thoughts to drift back to when Will had met her grandmother during her visit just the previous weekend.

" _Now, who's this handsome young man?" Theresa asked with a smile as JJ and Will walked into the room._

" _Grandma, this is my boyfriend, Will," JJ said gently, holding onto Will's hand as they approached her grandmother, who was enjoying a cup of tea with Sandy and Michael._

 _Theresa beamed, rising from her seat and walking towards the young couple. Will started to extend his hand politely for a handshake, but was cut off by Theresa pulling him into a hug._

" _It's lovely to finally meet you! I was starting to think I'd never be able to lay a face to the name," she said with a chuckle, stepping back and smiling at her granddaughter's boyfriend._

" _It's nice to meet you too," Will said politely, a handsome smile crossing his face._

" _You better be treating my girl like a queen," Theresa said seriously. Behind her, Sandy and Michael both grinned; Theresa could play hard all she liked, but they knew she would warm up to Will straight away._

" _Absolutely," Will replied sincerely. "Nothing but the best for her"_

 _Beaming, Theresa looked over to JJ. "You've got yourself a good one, my JJ"_

 _JJ's heart swelled. Even though she'd always known her grandmother would love Will straight away, her approval meant everything to her._

* * *

It was just over an hour later that they pulled up outside an isolated, yet beautifully maintained cabin that looked out over the lake upon which it sat. Even under the rainy sky, it was a beautiful, private slice of heaven.

"Where are we?" JJ asked softly as Will cut the ignition.

"Conneaut Lake. This is my parents' cabin," he replied with a smile, reaching over and taking JJ's hand. "It's one of my favourite places in the whole world. I thought it would be the perfect place for us to spend our anniversary together... especially since I've been wanting to bring you here for a long time"

"It's beautiful," JJ breathed, taking in every inch of the picture before her.

"Come on," Will said, pushing open the door and climbing out of the car. "Let's take our stuff inside"

It didn't take them very long to move their bags into the cozy confines of the cabin, the rain continuing to drizzle around them as they did.

"I'm going to put this food away and find us something for dinner. Why don't you take a look around?" Will suggested as they eventually closed the front door behind them.

"I can help you," JJ offered, setting her overnight bag down beside the sofa.

Will shook his head. "It's alright, it'll take me five minutes. Go get your bearings, I'll join you in a sec"

Smiling, JJ obliged. Leaving Will as he carried the box of food to the kitchen, JJ headed into the adjoining rooms. The first bedroom she walked into was clearly the master bedroom, with another door leading into the bathroom. All the walls were either rough hewn brick or log sided, giving it a very rustic, cozy feel. The window on the other side of the room looked out towards the lake. The cabin appeared to have been built at the top of a slope, which carried straight down through the clearing to the water's edge. A rough path had been weaved through the undergrowth down towards the lake; probably from Will and his older siblings over the many years his family had spent at the cabin.

Before heading back through the main living area, she stole a quick peek into the other rooms, although there wasn't much more to see, and then into the bathroom.

For a small forest cabin, the bathroom looked like a luxury. A spacious two person shower took up the far wall, complete with a half height window that looked out into the thickets of trees beyond. It was complemented by a large countertop and mirror, the toilet tucked away in a small alcove behind the door.

Thinking that she couldn't wait to drag Will into the shower with her later that evening, she bit back a grin and left the room.

Noticing that Will had gone back out to the car as she passed through the main living area, she walked over to the glass sliding doors and stepped out onto the deck. The air was cold, and the rain was still drizzling down in a persistent manner as it had been all day. Even with her hoodie, the chill touched her skin, but the view beyond the edge of the railing was more than worth enduring a little bit of the cold.

Leaning against the wooden partition, she smiled as the fresh rainy breeze gentled tousled her hair. Straight ahead of her was the lake, the same view they had from the bedroom... but out here, it was all the more beautiful to behold. The sun, while partially hidden behind the darkening clouds, managed to break through every so often, sending dazzling rays of light down to bounce off the shimmering surface of the water. The only sound to be heard was the gentle lapping of the water at the lake edge, accompanied with the soft tapping of rain drops on the roof.

It was so peaceful. A break from the media whirlwind and training commitments that had swallowed JJ in her entirety for the past few years. As much as her success was worth every sacrifice... it was nice to slow down and enjoy life at its normal pace.

"Enjoying the view?" came Will's voice as he stepped out onto the deck to join her.

"It's incredible," JJ said softly, turning to look at her boyfriend. "Thank you for doing this"

"My pleasure," Will replied, approaching her and looping an arm around her waist as he pressed a gentle kiss to her lips.

Leaning into his side as they looked out towards the lake, JJ looped her arms around his midsection, her smile never leaving her lips.

She was content. Right here. Already, she never wanted to leave.

She would make every second of their weekend together count.

* * *

"Hey Will"

"Mm?" Will replied absently, failing to notice the Snapchat video JJ was recording on her phone.

"Maybe I should cook?"

"Not unless you want us to die," Will said seriously, making JJ laugh. Quickly adding the video to her story, she exited the app and tucked her phone back into her jeans as she got up from the couch.

"So Master Chef... what's on the menu?" she asked, walking up to the counter and leaning against it.

"Old favourite of my dad's... Cornish game hens with garlic, herb and lemon, garlic mash, and sherried mushrooms. It's a bit of a mix and match meal, but I've always loved it," Will said with a smile. "It's almost done"

JJ's stomach growled, and for the first time all day, she realised how hungry she was. Will laughed, raising an eyebrow at her.

"Bit hungry?"

JJ grinned. "Just a bit"

"Dinner won't be long," Will promised, leaning over and pressing a kiss to JJ's temple as he passed her to get to the oven.

* * *

Hours later, dinner was well behind them, as was a long, hot (in more ways than one) shower. As the heavy rains had rolled in and the temperature had dropped, Will had lit the fire. Now, they were on the couch, watching the flames dancing behind the grate. JJ had her back against the arm, her legs draped over Will's lap as he absently traced circles on her thigh.

"Do you remember the first time we met?" he asked quietly, breaking the comfortable silence they'd been sitting in for almost half an hour.

Turning her gaze from the flames to Will, JJ tipped her head in thought.

"It was gym class... when we were eight. We had to do the rope climb, and you kept beating everyone every time you did it," Will continued. JJ felt the corners of her mouth twitch into a smile. _Now_ she remembered that day.

"I got mad because I was being beaten by a girl who had bigger muscles than me, and I called you the Incredible Hulk. Your very first reaction was to stamp on my foot and break my toe," Will chuckled.

JJ laughed. "I remember now. You had to wear a moon boot for three weeks"

Will nodded, his grin remaining. "Even back then though... I had a bit of a puppy crush. When the teacher asked me how I'd hurt my foot, I lied and said I'd been mucking around and kicked the wall. I kept the same story up with my parents... I didn't want you to get in trouble"

"Even though I broke your toe and beat you in the rope climb," JJ giggled.

"Even though you broke my toe and beat me in the rope climb," Will agreed, reaching over and taking one of JJ's hands.

"I think you were just jealous I had bigger muscles than you," JJ chuckled.

"JJ, I think you still do," Will said seriously, making her laugh again.

He loved the sound of her laugh. He loved seeing her happy. Whether it was on the international stage or alone with him, nothing made him happier than seeing his girlfriend smiling. The life she lived was stressful and intense. It was important, not just to her, but to Will, that she was still the bubbly, happy person he'd always known her to be.

"It's so nice to be here... away from all the craziness. I think sometimes, my gymnastics is like a vortex. It just sucks me in until everything in my life revolves around it. I mean, I love it... but it gets really tiring," JJ admitted softly after a few moments' silence.

Squeezing her hand, Will shifted so he was a little closer.

"You know I'm really proud of you... you give up so much, just to do this incredibly demanding sport that you love... you have so much drive and determination, and it blows me away every time I watch you compete. I remember watching Trials back in 2012, and when your name was called, I nearly started crying myself, because I just remember thinking how all your hard work had paid off in the ultimate dream," he said quietly, running circles on her hand with his thumb. "Whenever it all gets too tiring, or you just need to wind down... you know I'm right here for you"

Through oncoming tiredness, JJ smiled.

"Thank you. It means a lot"

Seeing the exhaustion in her eyes, Will gently patted her thigh.

"Come on. Let's get some sleep," he said, shifting her legs so he could stand up before he coaxed her up off the couch. Yawning as she got up, JJ leaned into Will's side as he guided her into the main bedroom.

Minutes later, she was snuggled under the covers, her eyes already drooping closed as Will drew the curtains and took off his shirt. She felt the covers shift, the mattress sinking as Will slid in beside her. Then he was right behind her, one arm draped protectively over her as they both settled in for a good night's sleep.

"I love you," he murmured in her ear, fighting back a yawn as he did.

"Love you too," JJ mumbled, barely awake.

It was no longer than ten minutes before both of them were sound asleep.

* * *

When JJ awoke the next morning, the sound of rain continued to patter down on the roof. She could hear noises coming from the kitchen, and a glance to her left confirmed that Will was already up and making breakfast.

Grabbing her phone from the nightstand, she brushed her hair back from her eyes as she pressed the home button.

A number of notifications greeted her. A ton of messages from Aly, Simone, and McKayla, as well as her mom, followed by an array of Twitter notifications.

Opening Twitter first, she had a quick scroll through the mentions.

 **tutagymfan: JJ's snapchat story, omg, all my goals *heart eyes***

 **krhuger: JJ's cooking apparently killing everyone is me on so many levels *laughing face***

Giggling, JJ retweeted the tweet from krhuger.

 **jareaumanar: JJ and her boyfriend are all my goals *crying face* *heart eyes***

 **kayceelee98: If Will's Instagram post to JJ didn't make you cry, you're not a true fan *crying face***

'What Instagram post?' JJ wondered, frowning as another message from Aly came through.

 _ **I DON'T KNOW IF YOU'RE AWAKE, BUT IF YOU ARE, GO LOOK AT WILL'S INSTAGRAM!**_

Sending Aly a quick reply back in the form of an **OK!** , JJ switched over to the Instagram app. It took her all of a few seconds to find the post everyone seemed to be losing it over, Will having apparently tagged her in it earlier that morning.

It loaded to a picture of her that had clearly been taken the previous afternoon, when she'd been standing on the deck taking in the view. Will had captured it in one of the split seconds where the sunlight had broken through the clouds to cast a beautiful glow on everything it touched. She was looking to the side, allowing a glimpse of the smile on her face. Contrary to what most of the online world always saw of her, she felt like it showed more of her personality than any other picture. It was a simple moment, captured perfectly forever.

Scrolling down a little further, JJ's eyes fell to the caption beneath it.

 _Most of the world only knows her as Jennifer Jareau, World and Olympic Champion in gymnastics. I'm one of the lucky few that knows her as just Jennifer Jareau. JJ. The world knows her as the girl who can flip and tumble like it's nothing, the girl who can be counted on to always nail a beam routine. I know her as the girl who always laughs at her own jokes (even when they aren't that funny), can't cook to save her life, and sucks at walking. She's the girl who is so humble that it's like she's not even aware of how amazing she is. She's the girl whose favourite pastime is making me watch awful movies which she always falls asleep during, or poking me awake early in the morning when I'm dead asleep. She's the girl who is so beautiful that I had to do a double take the first time I ever met her (even though she later broke my toe on purpose). She's the wind beneath my wings, and I can't imagine being with anyone else. It's been a privilege these last few years to watch her compete with the best of the best and make her dreams come true. Even after all she's achieved, she's the most down to earth, wonderful person I've ever had the luck of knowing._

 _Four years ago, I fell in love with my best friend. Two years ago, I was brave enough to take the leap into the unknown, and it resulted in the most meaningful relationship I've ever built with another person. Jennifer Jareau, you're my light, my love, my heart. To me, you're perfect. I love you more each and every day I spend with you, and I hope I get to spend the rest of my life waking up to your beautiful smile. I love you so much my beautiful girl. Don't ever change._

It was so sweet, so beautifully and honestly written, that she had to sit there for a minute and let it process.

He was just too damn good to her.

Swinging her legs over the edge of the bed, she got up, stretching as she slowly walked out of the room, her phone still clutched in her hand.

Stopping at the edge of the lounge room, she watched with a smile as Will bopped along to whatever music was playing on his earphones as he kept a close watch over whatever was cooking in the pan.

She was quick about taking another Snapchat video of him, captioning it with " _anyone need a dancing frycook?_ " before she flicked her screen back to the Instagram post and approached him in the kitchen.

He saw her out of the corner of his eye as she walked up, breaking into a big smile as he pulled his earphones out of his ears.

"Hey you," he said happily, his smile reaching from ear to ear. "Happy anniversary"

JJ reciprocated his smile. "Happy anniversary"

"How did you sleep?" he asked, glancing back towards their breakfast before turning off the heat.

"Really well," JJ replied. "But even better was waking up to this"

Holding up her phone to show him his post, she couldn't stop smiling, her eyes bright amongst the dull light of the kitchen.

"I meant every word," Will said sincerely, setting down the spatula he'd been using and pulling JJ into a tight embrace. "I'm sorry if it was a little too public for your liking, but I love you and I want the world to know it. You're everything to me, Jennifer Jareau"

JJ wrapped her arms around him, burying her face in his chest as her heart swelled.

Just too damn good.

* * *

Breakfast had been followed by the exchanging of anniversary gifts (a Pandora bracelet and charm for JJ, and a silver cuff bracelet with their anniversary date engraved on the underside for Will), and then followed up with donning layers of clothing to head out for a trek through the surrounding wilderness.

Will had taken so many photos of JJ as she demonstrated her natural agility through the obstacle course of the forest. They'd shared so many laughs (JJ stepping into what she thought was a shallow puddle and discovering it was in fact about a foot deep, and Will failing to notice a fallen log in front of him before he fell over it) and many moments where they had just appreciated everything that was around them.

It had been a fun, special, and carefree day, filled with sweet kisses and warm hugs as they enjoyed what the cabin's location had to offer.

A romantic dinner, followed by a hot shower had almost brought their special day to a complete close.

Almost.

"Make love to me," was JJ's breathless instruction as they stumbled out of the bathroom in nothing but towels, already too engrossed in each other to find their footing.

Hands roamed each other's skin, along mapped out trails of touches they had followed many times before. There was a little more heat, a little more passion behind every movement, every touch, every breath.

Sensual touches interspersed with passionate kisses, the towels lying now forgotten on the floor. The curtains were still open, moonlight washing over them as they wasted minutes, hours, touching each other in ways only they knew how.

It built up steadily until they couldn't wait any longer. Sitting up against the head of the bed, Will pulled JJ into his lap, wrapping his arms around her to keep her close.

When their bodies met for the first time that night, there was a neediness hanging in the air above them. JJ's fingers tightened on Will's shoulders, her nails leaving marks on his skin as they both started to move together.

It was somewhat frenzied at first, their heavy breaths and soft groans the only sounds to permeate the still night air. But JJ didn't want the moment to be wasted. As good as it felt to keep going, she wanted to slow the pace.

Enjoy the journey.

"Slow down... just slow down," JJ said breathlessly, clutching Will tighter as her hips instinctively rolled against his.

"What's wrong?" Will asked, his voice barely above a whisper.

"Nothing... I just want to be here... right here, in this moment... with you," JJ breathed, flicking her lust clouded eyes up to meet Will's.

Will pulled her flush against him, their bodies pressed together as one. Keeping one hand on her back, he brought his other hand up to her face, gently pushing back a loose strand of her hair and tucking it behind her ear.

"Right here is perfect," he whispered, leaning in and capturing her lips in his.

To them, it wasn't just sex. For that small moment in time, they were joined as one, not just physically, but emotionally as well. For JJ, it was one of the most overwhelming sensations she'd ever felt. Her heart was not just hers, but Will's, and in that moment, she didn't know if it was possible to feel stronger sensations of love than the ones that were currently flying through her chest like butterflies.

As close as they were, right now, Will was experiencing the same emotions, an onslaught of feelings he had never expected to feel. He _loved_ this girl, so goddamn much, more than he could ever portray in words or actions. His heart and soul wanted to project outwards from his very existence, and the only thing keeping him grounded was the feeling of JJ's warm skin pressed against his body.

In the midst of it all, they moved together once more, their hips rocking in a rhythm that felt older than time itself. Hours that were probably only minutes seemed to pass. It was gentle, beautiful love, the physical proclamation of just how much they meant to each other.

Bathed in the moonlight streaming through the window, they clutched at one another as the release rolled over them, not an explosive climax, but a gentle wave. Whimpers escaped their lips as they folded into each other, their bodies tangled together, completely spent of energy.

The sheets had barely settled over the forms of their bodies when JJ felt something unexpected stirring deep inside her chest.

Without warning, hot tear drops spilled from her eyes and onto the pillow below. She'd hardly registered that she was crying when Will tightened his embrace around her and gently kissed away the tears lingering on her skin.

"I'm sorry," she stammered, her voice shaking slightly as it broke the silence that had engulfed them. "Sorry"

"It's alright," Will said softly, brushing her hair out of her eyes once more.

Breathing deeply as she grounded herself once more, she flicked her eyes back up towards Will's. In the light from the moon that was bouncing off the surface of the lake in the distance, Will could see the tears in her eyes, clinging to her lashes, like jewels on her skin.

"I've never felt love like that before," she breathed. "It was so... powerful"

Remaining silent, Will pressed a kiss to JJ's forehead, running gentle circles on her lower back with his thumb. He didn't have to say anything more for JJ to know that he too had felt the astonishing pull of their love for each other.

"I love you," he breathed, his free hand coming up to cup her cheek. She smiled through what was left of her tears, covering his hand with her own. Now that her vision had cleared, she could see tears in Will's eyes as well, and it touched her deeply to know he'd been just as overwhelmed as she had been.

"I love you too. More than you'll ever know," she said sincerely, pressing her lips to his, sharing a passionate kiss as he snaked his arms around her and pulled her right up against him.

When they broke apart, JJ closed her eyes, tucking her head beneath Will's chin as a soft smile played around the corners of her mouth.

She wasn't tired, and she certainly wasn't ready to sleep. But right now, she just wanted to savour the beautiful moment. She wanted it to last as long as forever would allow.

They never left each other's arms all night long. After two more rounds of impassioned lovemaking, they lay, exhausted, wrapped up in each other. Drifting in and out of sleep, they stayed there until well after the sun had started to rise, talking, laughing, and loving. Now, more than ever, they were certain of the deep emotional connection they shared.

To them, it was forever.

And forever was beautiful.


	54. Chapter 54

**A/N: Much more to come!**

* * *

After what had truly been a wonderful night, JJ had been the first to wake the following morning. For the first time all weekend, the rain had broken and the sun was shining through the window.

Not in any hurry to move, JJ had stayed beneath the covers, her eyes drifting over to the sleeping face of her boyfriend. He'd looked so peaceful that JJ had let him sleep a little longer. He'd put so much work into making sure their weekend together was perfect; he had more than earned a decent rest.

Hours later, she was home. Will had dropped her off with a tight hug and a sweet kiss, before leaving her to mentally prepare for another week of dealing with the professional aspects of her gymnastics.

Unpacking was a drag, but eventually it was done. No sooner had she packed away the last of her things than she was falling onto her bed, her mind already drifting back to the weekend.

A light knock at the door immediately pulled her back into the present.

"Mind if I come in?" came her mother's voice.

"Sure," JJ replied, turning her head towards the door as her mom came into the room.

"How was your trip?" Sandy asked, taking a seat at the end of JJ's bed as JJ pushed herself up to a sitting position.

"Oh my god, it was amazing. The cabin was so beautiful, and the lake was beyond gorgeous. Will said he'll take me back in the summer," JJ replied.

"I've heard all about it from his parents... it does sound amazing," Sandy said with a smile. "That boy is quite the romantic"

"He really is," JJ said, her mind momentarily wandering back to the previous morning as a happy smile crossed her face.

A few moments' silence passed, only to be ended when JJ took a deep breath and looked up at her mom once more.

"Can I ask you something? Something personal?" she asked quietly.

Sandy nodded slowly, looking rather concerned. "What's it about?"

JJ sighed, clasping her hands together tightly. "Sex"

Without hesitating, Sandy nodded. "Go on"

JJ frowned, biting her lip. "I don't know how to explain it without just telling you what happened... minus the details, of course"

Relaxing, Sandy chuckled. "Go ahead, you know I won't judge"

"Well... last night, Will and I were... you know... and, there was this moment... when it felt like nothing else in the world mattered... like it was just Will and I and we were all that existed. And right after that, I felt this incredible feeling of love... it was so strong, I could feel it in every part of my body, but it wasn't a physical thing? And it was so overwhelming... when it was all over, I just started crying, I couldn't control it," JJ explained softly. "I just... I know it was love that I was feeling, but I don't really understand... why it hit me last night in the way it did... and I was wondering if you've ever experienced anything like that?"

Sandy was slightly taken aback. She and JJ had always been close, but the fact that JJ trusted her enough to open up to her about something that had clearly been a special and private moment was something that she found deeply touching. It also amazed her (and made her incredibly proud) that even at what was a considerably young age as far as committed relationships went, JJ had such a mature perspective on the things she was experiencing in her relationship with Will.

Turning so she was facing JJ completely, Sandy smiled at her daughter, reaching out and squeezing her hand.

"True love is one of the most powerful things you can feel, my girl, and from what I can guess, you definitely felt that last night with Will. When you're in a deeply connected, committed relationship, as you two are, the emotions you feel during sex are so much stronger, they can be incredibly overwhelming, which is probably why you started to cry," she explained gently. "You were alone together all weekend, you were celebrating an important milestone in your relationship... I suspect that all played a hand in what you felt. As for your other question... I have felt that before... many times, actually. With your father. The first time I ever felt that... was the same moment I realised he was the one I wanted to spend the rest of my life with"

JJ broke into a soft smile. Her parents' relationship was one for the ages, a model of what she wanted in her future one day. To hear her mother's honest account of what she thought and felt really helped her to better understand what she herself had felt.

"It sounds like you had a really special weekend," Sandy said with a smile. "I'm glad of that... you and Will don't have the easiest relationship, what with all your training and other commitments combined with his work and study. It's nice to see you two are mature enough to handle it really well"

"It was amazing," JJ agreed quietly. "What we have is something worth fighting for, it's worth putting in the effort"

"You two have always been beyond your years... I suspect your gymnastics has a hand in that. I'm just glad that you're happy. Because if he was making you miserable, I'd kick his ass"

JJ laughed. "I don't doubt that for a second"

Sandy grinned. "Was that all that was on your mind?"

Glancing up, JJ shook her head, a playful smile emerging onto her lips.

"I've kind of been thinking lately... that, maybe, I'd like to get... a tattoo"

Sandy's smile after that statement was one that could only read defeat. JJ had to laugh at her mother as she pretended to be completely scandalised by the idea, before she too started to laugh with her daughter.

"I was wondering if that was ever going to come up," Sandy eventually admitted. "Olympic rings, I'm guessing?"

JJ nodded. "I'd never really given it much thought until Worlds, and I saw some of the others who competed in London as well. I just thought 'hey... I think I'd like to do that too'"

"If it's what you want, I'm not going to stop you," Sandy replied. "It's your body, your decision"

JJ beamed. "Thanks Mom. For everything"

"Anytime, my girl"

* * *

It only took two days before JJ had decided to bite the bullet and get the tattoo done before she had time to psych herself out of it.

Roping Will in to accompany her, they had made the short journey downtown to the tattoo parlour that she had heard recommended by others many times before. She was also pretty sure one of their former classmates was working there.

The ring of the bell as they'd walked through the door had caught the attention of the guy leaning on the front service counter sifting through design books.

"Hey, how are y... JJ, is that you?" he asked immediately, breaking into a grin. "And Will?"

"That would be us," JJ chuckled, recognising the familiar face of their high school peer, Lukas. So the whispers had been bang on.

"I'm pretty sure the last time I saw you guys was graduation, man, this is crazy!" Lukas laughed. "How you been? How was the Olympics, I heard you did crazy good!"

JJ grinned. "Well, five medals _was_ pretty good"

Lukas nodded, clearly impressed. "That's wicked. Still doing gymnastics?"

"Still going," JJ chuckled. "I just got back from Worlds a couple of weeks ago, it's been a bit of a rollercoaster"

"I still think wanting to do tricks that could kill you is crazy, but hey, to each their own," Lukas laughed, getting an immediate nod of agreement from Will. "So, I'm guessing you're here for a reason. What can I do for you?"

"I want to get the Olympic rings tattooed... somewhere," JJ said with a laugh. "I haven't given much thought to where"

"They're popular on wrists," Lukas said knowingly. "It depends how easily you want to see it"

"I'm not too fussed about seeing it," JJ admitted. "I'll know it's there"

"What about on your shoulder?" came Will's gentle voice behind her. "Right... here," he said softly, his fingers touching a spot on the back of JJ's shoulder.

As if his touch had imprinted the tattoo itself onto her skin, JJ looked up at Lukas.

"Where Will said. On the back of my shoulder"

* * *

"Alright. You're all done!" Lukas said chirpily nearly an hour later.

"How does it look?" JJ asked Will, keeping completely still as Lukas wiped the back of her shoulder down a couple more times with an antibacterial wipe.

"It looks really good," Will said with a smile. "Suits you"

JJ had decided on a set of rings that were completely blacked out, and were no bigger than the back of her hand. It was simple, and elegant, and Will knew JJ was going to love it.

Standing up off the table, JJ turned to face the mirror as Lukas held up a smaller mirror behind her.

"There you go"

Immediately, JJ's face relaxed into a smile.

It was perfect.

Forever an Olympian.


	55. Chapter 55

**A/N: Trust me, this story is going to get wild. I appreciate reviews as well guys, love to hear your feedback!**

* * *

 _I think people are under the impression that we make a ton of sacrifices and we're missing out on everything in life because of the commitment we make to elite gymnastics. In some ways, I guess that's true, but in most ways, if you ask a gymnast, it's really not true. Yes, we have all had to miss out on things for training or competitions. I had to miss out on my official high school graduation ceremony, but I still got to go up and receive my diploma in front of my graduating class a few days before. I've missed a few birthday parties and such, but I got to go to my senior prom, which was something I had always wanted to do. But if you asked any of us if we regretted it, the answer would almost always be no. Because to go to the Olympics, or Worlds, you have to make those sacrifices. And not everyone has the chance to do what we can do, and represent their country on the international stage. If I had to make those sacrifices again, I'd do it in a heartbeat. But I wouldn't call them sacrifices. Because the Olympics, gymnastics, it's my choice. And it's what I live for._

* * *

Snow was falling thick and fast beneath the cold gray sky, but despite the freezing winter, JJ was working up a sweat inside the gym.

Christmas was just three days away, but there was no time to rest. After returning to the gym in December, JJ had thrown herself into a tough regime of strength and conditioning, before Nick slowly allowed her back onto the apparatus.

"You really need to anticipate the half turn off the springboard. As soon as your body passes through vertical off the board, you need to be turning for the table. Otherwise you're going to have a funky angle off the table, and the vault will go off to one side," Nick instructed from where he stood by the vaulting table. "Go again, and make a point of focusing on tightening up the layout through the post-flight"

Nodding, JJ lined her feet up on her line, a strip of paint across the vault runway that had been there for as long as she could remember. A step back, a swing of the arms, and she took off.

Driving through the roundoff, she took Nick's corrections into her mind, focusing entirely on where her body was in relation to the ground. As she passed through vertical, she turned her waist, taking her hands over her head to the table. She had a slight angle as she blocked, repulsing straight off the table into a front layout. Even with a hip angle and not entirely straight shoulders, her layout was higher and stronger than it had been before.

Landing in the foam pit, JJ righted herself and started digging her way out as Nick gave a short clap.

"Not bad. Your half turn could still be squarer on the table, but you held the layout position much better that time. That with a half turn in the post flight would still be a competitive vault for this season," he said as JJ reached up and grabbed the practice bar, hauling herself out of the pit. "But I'm quite happy with that for now. I think one more two and a half into the pit, and if you do it as good as last time, I'll let you go home"

JJ smiled, nodding as she brushed herself off and headed back to the end of the runway while Nick dragged a crash mat into the pit.

While Nick righted the mat, she rechalked her hands; she last thing she wanted to do was slip on the table.

As she turned back towards the end of the runway, she spotted her dad standing on the mezzanine watching the last few minutes of her practice and smiled. He had insisted on driving her to and from training that day on account of the snow, and always took an opportunity to come in and watch what she was doing.

"Alright JJ, let's nail this one!" Nick called from down by the table.

Rubbing her hands together, JJ stepped onto the mat and lined her feet up again with the paint line. She took a moment to focus herself before stepping back, tapping her toe, and taking off.

The run was powerful, as was the hurdle. Blocking strongly off the table, she allowed her hand contact to completely clear the horse before wrapping in the twist. One... two... and a half.

She dropped into the landing so easily that her smile had lit up before her weight was even fully on the mat.

"YEEAAHHHH!" she exclaimed, punching the air as she turned to face Nick, before dramatically falling into the foam. Nick laughed.

"Alright, that was really good," he chuckled. "Someone's been watching Simone"

"Someone is gonna compete that at the Classic this year," JJ replied, pulling herself back up onto the crash mat and jumping across to the floor.

"Keep that up, and I'm not stopping you," Nick agreed. "Go on, get home and get some rest. I'll see you bright and early tomorrow for one last training session before Christmas"

Getting a high five from Nick, JJ headed off to the locker room to change into her winter clothes. Seeing her dad smiling at her from the mezzanine, she gave him a thumbs up before disappearing into the next room.

* * *

 _ **JJ seemed more subdued and a little more inconsistent at Worlds than we're used to seeing from her. Do you think that's a bad sign?**_

 _No, I don't think it is. She's been working really hard without a long break pretty much her whole life, and even after the Olympics, she only took a couple of months off before she came back. I think, understandably, she was just tired. She definitely looked like she had a little less energy in the all-around final, and I think that's a sign that this quad is just wearing her a little thin. I don't think it's anything to worry about; I spoke to her personally just a couple of weeks back in a phone interview, and she seemed quite chirpy and happy, and said she wasn't disappointed in her Worlds performance, and that she's looking forward to what lies ahead. As for being subdued... she had a big wobble in the team final, which is never a good feeling, and I also heard a rumor that she got rattled the morning of the all-around by some nasty comments online. It's just a reminder that these girls are human too. I don't think JJ's troubles at Worlds are major concern; she's always proved herself when she needs to. And it's all a reminder to us to watch what we say about people when we think they can't see it._

 _ **Do you think having a relationship is a distraction to elite gymnasts?**_

 _I don't think so! Not as long as you're someone who can manage their time and prioritise, and the person you're with is someone who completely understands your commitments. Look at JJ as an example; she and her boyfriend have been together for two years now, and if anything, I think it's a benefit for her. Will supports her wholeheartedly, and encourages her dreams. I think because of it, she's grown immeasurably in confidence since 2012._

* * *

As was the custom whenever her dad drove her home from practice, they made a stop for something sweet as a wintry treat. Today's choice was pancakes.

After ordering their food, they chose a table in the corner of the quiet establishment, near the window, and near enough to the fireplace that they were able to keep warm.

"Your practice looked good today," Michael said with a smile. "Your vaulting has really come along"

"Thanks," JJ replied happily. "We've been working really hard on it"

"You excited for this season?" Michael asked.

JJ nodded slowly. "Yeah... mostly"

Michael frowned. "Mostly?"

"I'm a little... I don't know, I think anxious is the best word," JJ admitted. "It's an important season, and I have a lot of upgrades going back in"

"You know better than to stress about it though," Michael said. "Nick will guide you through it at the pace he sees fit. I'm sure you're going to be just fine"

Smiling, JJ nodded. "I know. I'm trying not to worry"

"Good. Now on another note, I can't believe it's Christmas in three days," Michael chuckled. "Another year gone"

"It's crazy. I swear it was Christmas just yesterday," JJ laughed.

"I'll never forget one Christmas... you, Jason and Rosie all tried to surprise us with breakfast. Somehow, you got egg on the ceiling, burnt the toast, and we later found a hashbrown in the Christmas tree," Michael said, starting to laugh once more.

JJ laughed as well. "I remember that. I think the hashbrown was my doing"

Silence fell between them once more. In the quiet of the cafe, a saddened look crossed Michael's face.

"It's never been quite the same without Rosie, has it?"

Sighing softly, JJ shook her head slowly. "I miss her. Every day"

Reaching across, Michael squeezed JJ's hand, giving her a comforting smile. "You're not the only one, Jaybird"

"Do you think she's proud of me?" JJ asked quietly.

Michael looked surprised for a minute, a sudden wave of sadness crossing his face for a split instant. Holding onto his resolve, he closed his other hand around JJ's, holding her hand between his own as he tried to offer her some comfort.

"Of course she is. Every day. I don't know how she couldn't be," he said truthfully. A twinkle flew into his eye and a little smile began to play around his lips. "And she'll be glad you finally got together with Will"

JJ giggled, her cheeks blushing pale pink as the heaviness that had momentarily settled in her heart immediately lifted.

"They're still spending Christmas with us, right?" she asked. Michael nodded.

"And Jason and Katie fly in tomorrow morning as well," he said.

JJ chuckled. "The snow will be a nice shock to their systems after Florida"

Michael grinned. "Oh, I bet it will be"

At that point, the waiter brought over their food. Once he had set it down for them and left, Michael lifted his spoon.

"Bon appétit, my JJ"

JJ smiled, picking up her spoon as well.

"Bon appétit"

* * *

"We're home!" JJ called as she dragged her bag through the front door, shaking off the snow from her coat as she went. Michael came in right behind her, closing the door to keep out the wind and the cold.

"Took you long enough," Sandy teased. "You stopped for food didn't you?"

"Of course we did," Michael laughed, stepping past JJ and approaching his wife. He leaned down, kissing her cheek before shedding his outer coat.

"I'm going for a shower," JJ said, heading for the stairs.

Watching her head for her room, Michael turned to his wife with a grin.

"Are they here?" he asked, a knowing glint in his eye.

Sandy smiled, nodding. "Got here half an hour ago"

As she reached the top of the stairs, JJ was pulling off her thick sweater, draping it over her arm before pushing open her bedroom door.

Looking up as she walked in, she stopped in shock when she spotted Aly sitting on her bed.

"Hey," Aly said with a grin.

"Oh my god," JJ laughed, throwing her sweater onto her pillow and walking forwards as Aly got up to hug her. "What are you doing here?"

"We're spending Christmas with you guys," Aly said, wrapping her arms around JJ and giving her a tight hug. "Our moms were talking last week, and my mom mentioned that we weren't seeing our family for Christmas because we saw them at the start of Hanukkah and half of them are going away for the holidays. So your mom invited us to come to you guys for Christmas"

JJ beamed. "That's awesome, when did you get here?"

"Like an hour ago," Aly laughed. "My dad and Brett are coming tomorrow night, but Mom and the girls are here already"

"I don't know how I missed that coming in," JJ giggled. "I'm gonna go take a shower, because I smell like a sweaty foam pit-"

"Yeah, you stink," Aly teased, playfully pushing JJ towards the bathroom.

"-but when I get out, you can tell me all about the latest camp!"

* * *

Hours later, the house was silent, feeling fuller than it had felt in a long time. But even after a day of hard training, in the dead of night, JJ lay wide awake.

For the first time in a long time, anxiety was kicking up in her stomach.

2015 was just days away. And JJ knew it was going to be her toughest season yet. Not only did the team have to pre qualify to the Olympics for 2016, JJ had to prove herself to Marta. That the mistakes from Worlds weren't going to become a regular occurrence, and that her upgrades were solid and consistent. That she could still be the Olympic Champion everyone knew and loved.

Turning over onto her side, she pulled the covers right up to her chin. Aly was fast asleep beside her, and even having her best friend there was the smallest of comforts. Aly knew what the year ahead was going to be like better than almost anyone else. And she probably had it harder this time around; Marta had not seen her under competitive pressure since the London Olympics, and Aly would have to prove herself from scratch all over again. JJ was secretly glad she had been competing through the last two years; Aly had a good head for pressure, but it was going to be a tough year.

Closing her eyes, JJ tried to relax. There was no point stressing, she knew that. All she could rely on was that she would do the hard work, and it would give her the best shot of getting where she needed to be.

Even with a thousand thoughts running through her mind, her muscles softened with exhaustion.

Just minutes later, she too was fast asleep.


	56. Chapter 56

**A/N: This season is going to get GOOD!**

 **Please review if you can! You don't need an account, and I appreciate your thoughts!**

* * *

The remaining days leading up to Christmas were nothing but a holiday rush. JJ and Aly had disappeared to training in the early hours of the morning, returning exhausted around midday to find that Rick and Aly's brother, Brett, had arrived from Boston. The snow was falling thicker and faster than ever, and the LaMontagnes had decided to join the party early to avoid the risk of being snowed in on Christmas Day. In the traditional sense, it wasn't family, but in every other way, it was, and they were all looking forward to a homey, busy Christmas Day in which the house was definitely going to resemble Grand Central Station.

It was now late on Christmas Eve, and in the wake of dinner, hot chocolate, and plenty of laughter, everyone had slowly broken away to turn in for the night in preparation for what was definitely going to be a big following day.

JJ, Will, and Aly had all retreated to JJ's room to watch a movie before going to sleep. Seated side by side on JJ's bed, they were all rugged up against the cold.

"You know," Will said softly about half an hour into the movie. "I feel like you're trying to sap all the warmth from my body and steal it for yourself"

"Of course I am, you're warm," JJ mumbled happily, snaking her arms a little tighter around Will. Will's response was to lightly tickle her ribs, making her giggle and try to push him away.

"Don't," she laughed, only to have him do it again. "Will!"

"Beg me," Will teased.

"Ugh, please don't," Aly groaned from JJ's other side, making the couple laugh. "I do not need to witness that, thanks"

"You're just jealous," JJ laughed, getting a grin out of Aly.

"Remember what I said Jareau. Until I have more Olympic medals than you, no man is getting any of this," Aly replied with a giggle, gesturing to herself. JJ and Will laughed, Will wrapping his arms around JJ as they settled back against the pillows once more.

"By the way, if you guys get frisky tonight, I'm bunking in with my brother," Aly chuckled. "Because I don't need to see _or_ hear that either"

"Aly, you're in the bed with me, he's sleeping on the floor," JJ said seriously.

"He? Who am I, the cat's father?" Will asked, making the girls laugh. "You never told me I was sleeping on the floor"

"Yeah, sorry," JJ giggled. "But I know you, you won't be able to keep your hands to yourself"

"I'm so offended," Will said dryly, getting another laugh out of the two girls.

"Don't worry, I'll get you a mattress," JJ said sweetly, reaching up to pat his cheek before giving him a kiss. Chuckling, Will reciprocated, before taking JJ's hand in his, running gentle circles on the back of it with his thumb as they finally turned their attention back to the movie.

* * *

Tiredness had crept in, and the lights were out. The first half hour had been intermittent with the girls laughing and making stupid noises just to drive Will crazy, but one by one, they had eventually dropped off to sleep.

Well... two of them had.

JJ was completely exhausted, but the butterflies and worry had returned to her stomach and were effectively keeping her awake.

After tossing and turning for nearly an hour, she decided she wasn't going to sleep anytime soon. Rising from the bed, she unplugged her phone from the charger before walking across to her bathroom. Slipping inside, she slowly shut the door so she wouldn't wake the others up.

Turning on the heat lamp and the lights, she sat down on the floor, opening her phone as she tiredly rubbed her face with her free hand.

A flick through her Snapchat stories, a scroll through her Tumblr. Feeling like she wanted to at least partially get whatever it was off her chest, she took a selfie on Snapchat, captioning it _"stressing. can't sleep :/"_ before adding it to her story.

Another half hour or so passed, JJ mulling through her social media as she sat there on the bathroom floor. Just as she was about to open a Snapchat she'd received from Simone, someone tapped lightly on the other side of the door.

"You can come in," she said softly, watching as the door opened and Will stepped inside, looking half asleep and a little pale.

"Why aren't you sleepin'?" he asked, shutting the door behind him and crossing the room to sit down beside JJ.

JJ shrugged. "I couldn't get to sleep"

"What's goin' on?" Will asked knowingly. "Every time you have a chance to start thinkin', you start lookin' a little troubled. I noticed it at dinner"

Taking a deep breath, JJ set her phone down beside her and rested her chin on her knees.

"I don't know... I'm just... stressing... about next year," she admitted slowly.

"Why?"

"I don't know," JJ choked out, her voice cracking as tears started to fall.

"Hey, hey," Will said softly, pulling her into his arms and rubbing her back. "Don't cry, JJ, you don't need to get upset"

"I just don't know what's wrong with me," JJ sobbed, burying her face in Will's chest. "I lie awake every night feeling anxious about the upcoming season... I don't know why I'm so worried"

"There's a lot more pressure this year," Will said gently. "You probably haven't thought much about it, but subconsciously, you know this year is an important one"

Shifting so that she was closer to Will, JJ kept her face down, her tears slowing some as Will gently rubbed her upper arm to try and comfort her.

"I think you're tired, JJ," Will said. "You've been working nonstop since the Olympics, and it's catching up to you. There's no doubt you still love gymnastics, anyone can see it in your eyes, but you're wearing thin. I think all you can do is keep your chin up, and march headfirst into the new season like nothing can touch you. You're Jennifer Jareau, the most decorated gymnast in America, and you have to believe you can do this, because I know you can. We all know you can. You'll get through this season just like every other season that came before it, and when we get to this time next year, you'll wonder what on earth you were so upset about"

Tipping her chin up, he pressed a comforting kiss to her forehead. "You're allowed to be anxious, but don't let it consume you. You're stronger than you think you are, and everything is going to work out"

Taking a deep breath, JJ squeezed Will's hand.

"I just feel like if something's going to go wrong... it's going to happen this year," she admitted softly, her tears almost forgotten.

Will shook his head. "If something goes wrong, you just take it in stride. If you want the Olympics again bad enough, nothing is going to stop you"

Reaching up to wipe away the last of her tears, JJ looked up at Will, managing a smile.

"Thank you. I needed to hear that," she breathed.

"I'm always here if you need to vent, cry, whatever you need, ok? Don't hold it all in, you know that's not good," Will replied, leaning down and pressing a gentle kiss to her lips.

"Come on," he said once they broke apart. "You need some sleep"

Allowing him to pull her up off the floor, JJ followed as he guided her back into the bedroom. While she was getting back under the covers, Will dragged his mattress closer to the edge of the bed.

When they lay back down to go to sleep, Will reached up, taking JJ's hand and giving it a comforting squeeze so that she knew he was there for her.

And all through the night, she never let go.


	57. Chapter 57

**A/N: Apologies for the delay!**

* * *

 _ **Do you think JJ is capable of more than she showed in London?**_

 _Absolutely. JJ is one of the rare gymnasts in the States who has been so well paced in her training that I don't think we've seen the greatest of what she can do just yet. We know she's always capable of more on beam, we know she's upgrading her vault, and I'm sure she can do more on her other two events, especially floor. Maybe she's not Simone level of powerful in tumbling, but she's still pretty powerful by normal standards! I think she can go for more difficulty in her tumbling, which I'm sure she's going to do this year, but we'll have to see what she's going to bring out. Whatever she does, I'm just excited to see what happens._

 _ **Could JJ have won all-around silver in Nanning?**_

 _Yes. She would have had she not slipped off the bars too. It was a little disappointing to see her have that fall, especially considering she's been fighting an ongoing battle with the apparatus her entire career, but the fact she still got bronze shows how strong she was across the other three events. I'm hoping she gets it together on bars this year, because while I don't think she can challenge Simone for gold, she can definitely come closer than most others._

 _ **Of the current crop of US elites, who are your personal favourites? And for those girls, which Olympic eligible juniors do you think will challenge them the most?**_

 _Everyone knows I love JJ. She's clean, has beautiful form and artistry, and continues to defy everyone's doubts, which cracks me up. Not only is she an incredible gymnast (seriously, if she wins the beam title at Worlds this year, it's starting to verge on ridiculous), but she's down to earth and lovely to talk to. She's the kind of person you feel could be friends with anyone. Aside from JJ, I also love Simone Biles, Aly Raisman, and Mykayla Skinner. Simone is just incredible in everything she does, and her infectious laughter really lends to her personality. Aly is one of the greatest team captains the US has ever had, and her consistency and work ethic under pressure are unparalleled. And Skinner has incredible difficulty and keeps working to put herself in contention for teams despite not being chosen as regularly as girls like JJ, Kyla, and Simone._

* * *

Slowly waking beneath the warm cocoon of blankets she had burrowed into during the night, Aly groggily rubbed her eyes and yawned.

Looking over to her left, she was surprised to find the bed beside her empty. Pushing herself up onto her elbows, she stretched over to look towards where she knew Will was sleeping, and smiled when she found both JJ and Will cuddled up on the single mattress, both still fast asleep.

Taking the throw from the end of JJ's bed and wrapping it around her shoulders, she quietly got up and crept out of the room, pulling the door shut behind her before heading down the stairs. The house was quiet, most of its occupants still sleeping, but someone was showering. Probably her mom; she was an early riser.

In the kitchen, she found Sandy perusing a magazine while sipping a cup of coffee. The older woman looked up as she came in, breaking into a smile.

"Morning Aly. Merry Christmas," she said softly, straightening up.

"Merry Christmas," Aly replied with a smile, sliding onto the counter stool.

"Coffee?" Sandy asked knowingly. Aly grinned.

"Yes please," she chuckled.

"The lovebirds still sleeping?" Sandy asked as she set about making Aly a cup of coffee.

Aly giggled. "Yep. When I fell asleep last night, JJ was right next to me. When I woke up just now, she was on the mattress with Will. It doesn't look very comfortable"

Sandy rolled her eyes, before laughing with Aly.

"They're hopeless, but they're happy, that's all I can say," she said, lifting the jug of coffee from the machine and pouring it into a mug. Setting it in front of Aly, she picked up the milk and the sugar bowl, and placed them down beside the mug.

"Thank you," Aly said warmly, quickly mixing in her desired amount of milk and sugar before taking a long sip. "Mmm... that's good coffee"

Sandy grinned. "So, are there any boys on your horizons? Anyone who takes the fancy of the great Aly Raisman?"

Aly laughed. "No, not at the moment. I keep telling JJ that until I have more medals than she does, I have no time for men. She's on seventeen, I'm on six, so I've got a long way to go"

Sandy had to laugh. "You two are just trouble"

"I think that more applies to JJ and Will, to be honest. They were stirring me up to no end last night," Aly chuckled.

"Doesn't surprise me," Sandy said dryly, getting more laughter out of Aly.

"Morning all," came Lynn's voice as she entered the kitchen. "Merry Christmas"

Smiling, Aly turned.

"Hi Mom," she said happily as Lynn kissed the top of her head before heading straight to the coffee machine.

"What's the hot topic of the morning?" Lynn asked as she made herself a cup of coffee.

"Men, medals, and my troublesome daughter," Sandy said with a grin.

"Me? Troublesome? Never," came JJ's voice as she joined the growing group in the kitchen, having clearly just woke up.

"Not yet anyway," Aly giggled. "Just wait until your first pregnancy scare"

Sandy nearly choked on her coffee as the two girls laughed. Behind her, Lynn looked surprised, not quite sure how to react to her daughter's statement.

"Just you wait, Aly, just you wait," JJ laughed. "We're gonna take this outside, your medals will mean nothing, it'll just be you, me, and the snow"

* * *

True to JJ's word, after they had been through the Christmas formality of presents and breakfast, which had been loud, crowded, and incredibly fun, everyone traipsed outside into the snow for winter entertainment.

While Janine, Sandy, and Lynn chose to remain under the porch clutching mugs of hot chocolate, the others had wasted no time in starting a snowball fight. Before too long, the backyard was nothing more than a white flurry as snowballs were flung in every possible direction, exploding against snow jackets in white clouds. Laughter rang out through the cold wintry air, and it truly was a sight that warmed the heart.

The two youngest Raismans were the first to bow out, just as JJ and her dad were busy completing a snow wall to hide behind, Rick and Aly following suit.

"I'm in No Man's Land!" Will yelled out from where he stood in the open ground between the barriers, flinging himself down to the ground as a snowball whizzed past his head with frightening speed. "Bloody hell JJ, you need to take up baseball!"

JJ laughed, popping up momentarily just in time to get a face full of snow from Aly.

"YEAH!" Aly cheered.

"One of you is going to put out a shoulder, and Marta Karolyi will have my head on a platter!" Sandy called out from the porch.

Fearing he would become the first person to ever sustain serious injuries from a snowball, Will bowed out, deciding to join the others on the porch and film the hilarity on his phone instead. By now, only JJ, Michael, Aly, Rick, and Brett remained on the battlefield.

"I'm gonna beat you Jareau! No mercy!" Aly yelled, hurling a snowball in JJ's direction and accidentally hitting Michael. "Sorry Michael!"

"Not if I beat you first!" JJ yelled back, her snowball already flying back through the air towards Aly, who ducked just in time for it to hit the porch railing instead, making Sandy and Lynn leap back, hot chocolate sloshing over the sides of their cups onto the wooden surface.

"JJ!" Sandy exclaimed scoldingly, but even she couldn't fight back the smile.

Minutes later, the snow was flying through the air with relentless speed, barely a second in between each one. Laughter and good natured jibes filled the air, as did the mockery and teasing that was a given with JJ and Aly.

Will had already captured a portion of the action and uploaded it to his Instagram, grinning the entire time.

 _Never let two Olympic gymnasts snowball fight each other... someone is going to die *laughing face*_

In a hasty attempt, JJ leapt up from behind the snow barrier.

"It ends HERE!" she cried, hurdling over the snow barrier straight from her hiding position. She was almost clear, the snowball leaving her hand in Aly's direction, when her boot clipped the top of the snowbank, toppling it down and sending JJ crashing face first into the snow.

The reaction was instantaneous. Everyone started to laugh as JJ rolled over in defeat, brushing snow from her pink face as a grin fought its way through.

"That was pretty spectacular," Michael laughed, holding out a hand to help her up. "Your gold medals make so much sense now"

"I meant to do that," JJ giggled, turning as Aly trudged up to them.

"Oh my god that was so funny. I hope Will filmed that so I can show Simone," she was saying through her laughter.

"You better not!" JJ exclaimed as the remaining four headed back towards the porch.

"You give her crap about the bee, she gives you crap about the face dive... you'll be even," Aly chuckled, throwing an arm around her friend's shoulders.

Crazy, family Christmas.

Just how it should be.


	58. Chapter 58

**A/N: Another one! Getting to the good stuff!**

* * *

Winter raged on day after day, but with competitions approaching in the spring, JJ was working harder than ever. Every aspect of her gymnastics was being revamped in preparation for the new season. She had a new floor routine, which she was very excited about, as well as upgrades on vault, beam, and a few small changes on bars.

Her music was the most exciting part. Having expressed on Twitter the previous year how much she had loved the movie _The Fault In Our Stars_ , it had led to a multitude of interactions with the leading actor, Ansel Elgort. That had in turn led to him finding out JJ was in the hunt for new floor music, and allowing her to preview his upcoming single that was due for release in September.

Having loved the energy behind the piece, JJ had excitedly decided it was perfect for her floor music. With Ansel's agreement, she and Nick had pieced it together with a traditional Jewish song to make for a very interesting cut of music.

All too soon, it was the end of January. International assignments were coming up, and JJ was working herself to the grindstone in order to be ready.

"Alright kiddo, take a breather," Nick called out as JJ hauled herself out of the pit once more. "Everything's looking good. Your floor is going to be a lot harder once we put it all together, but I feel like you're handling these tumbles a lot better than you were a year ago. Your double lay is incredible now, you're progressing really well"

"Everything hurts," JJ groaned dramatically, flopping down on the end of the tumble track with her arms and legs sprawled out to the side. Nick chuckled.

"Go home, ice, and rest up. I'll have you back here at two, we'll do vault and beam then"

With a noncommittal groan, JJ pulled herself up and headed to the locker room.

* * *

 _ **I haven't seen you in almost a month. Wanna hang out after practice tonight? We could go get dinner?**_

Her dad jabbered on beside her as they drove home, unaware of the fact that JJ was hardly listening to a word he said. Instead, her eyes were fixated on the text she'd sent to Will the previous day, and for some reason, still didn't have a reply to.

She was right in saying they hadn't seen each other for nearly a month; the last time she had seen him had been New Year. They hadn't spoken in over a week due to crazy schedules, and JJ was missing his company, his voice, the comfort he offered on a bad day in the gym.

"I love your mother dearly, I do, but she drives me crazy sometimes, I – hey, peanut? You ok?" Michael broke off, noticing JJ's frown. "What's going on in that noggin of yours?"

JJ cracked a smile. "Nothing. Just thinking about all my upgrades"

"Lots to come? You mentioned a new floor routine?"

Tucking her phone into her bag, JJ nodded. "Yeah, new floor routine, some new tumbling... it's exciting"

"What's your new music?" Michael asked curiously.

"You'll just have to wait until my first competition to see," JJ said with a grin.

"Your first competition is likely to be Italy, and your mother and I probably won't be there," Michael reminded her.

"I'll send you a video," JJ laughed, getting an eye roll and a shake of the head from her father. "What I will tell you is Aly sent me her floor music the other day, and there's a section in mine that's exactly the same as hers"

Michael laughed. "Now Marta will have to accept her dynamic duo for sure"

Giggling, JJ nodded, settling back into her seat and turning her attention to the night sky outside as they headed for home.

* * *

Iced, showered, and under the covers watching a movie while her mom fixed her something to eat, JJ toyed with her phone anxiously. Her stomach was starting to churn up in knots again, the familiar anxiety that she attributed to her upcoming season making a return visit to her already tightly wound mind.

It was just gone eight. That wasn't too late to call.

Taking a deep breath, she unlocked her phone and went into Will's contact, pressing call before lifting the phone to her ear.

It took longer than usual for him to pick up, but eventually, he did.

" _Hey"_

"Hey you... haven't heard from you in a while," JJ said with a soft smile.

" _Yeah, look, I don't wanna talk right now"_

The abruptness of his reply had JJ a little surprised.

"What do you mean?"

" _I mean, I don't want to talk to you"_

And just like that, the call ended.

Stunned, JJ sat there, slowly lowering her hand back into her lap. Her mind was racing, conjuring up a million different explanations for what had just happened, but not one of them made sense.

Will didn't want to talk to her? What the hell was going on?

She barely had time to process it all before her vision flooded over and tears spilled down her cheeks.

A gentle knock on her door snapped her back into the present, making her hastily wipe her eyes.

"Your dinner's ready," Sandy said gently, pushing the door open just far enough to poke her head into the room. Noticing her daughter's wet eyes, she frowned slightly. "Everything ok?"

"Yeah," JJ managed, seconds before she burst into tears. Sandy leapt into action, crossing the room and hurriedly pulling JJ into her embrace. It wasn't often JJ was open about her emotions with her parents, and breakdowns were even rarer. Seeing her crying as hard as she was right now was something Sandy hadn't seen in years, and it was already scaring her.

"What's the matter?" she asked worriedly.

"I don't know," JJ sobbed, burying her face in her mother's shoulder. "Will's acting weird... he hung up on me... doesn't want to talk... I don't know what I did"

"Oh sweetie," Sandy sighed. "Men are an odd species. It's probably not something you did... he's probably got something on his mind and he's not sure how to talk about it. They're _awful_ at communicating, just ask your father"

JJ le out a watery giggle, lifting her face far enough to look at her mother.

"Don't get worked up just yet, ok?" Sandy said gently, cupping JJ's face in her hands. "Give him some time to breathe, and then see how it is, alright?"

Nodding, JJ reached up, wiping away her tears as Sandy got up and guided her off the bed.

"Come and get something to eat. Food fixes everything"


	59. Chapter 59

**A/N: This all plays out so much better in my head than it does in words.**

* * *

The end of January brought another national team camp. With both junior and senior hopes for national team selection, it was a very full camp of almost thirty girls.

Physical abilities testing and routine verification had been the focus of the camp. For the girls hoping to make the Jesolo team later in the spring, it was important for all their routines to be almost completely put together by now. JJ's routines were complete with the exception of her floor routine, which she was still learning choreography for.

As well as being reunited with Gabby and Aly at camp for the first time, JJ had met a few of the juniors who would be senior in time to make a bid for the 2016 Olympic Games. Laurie Hernandez, Ragan Smith, and Jazmyn Foberg had been at the top of the group of juniors, and JJ had found herself quietly impressed. She had briefly met them in passing the year before, with the exception of Laurie who had been out with an injury, so was glad to be properly introduced.

" _Oh my god," JJ heard someone whisper, before a flurry of giggles filled her ears._

 _Turning around, she grinned when she found a group of the juniors heading for the locker room._

" _Laurie, JJ doesn't bite, you can go say hi," Jazmyn laughed, pushing her curly haired friend gently towards JJ._

" _She's right, I don't bite," JJ said with a grin. "Laurie?"_

" _Laurie Hernandez," Laurie said with a happy smile. "I think this is the first time we've been at camp together. I was here last year, but you were injured, and then I got injured, so I couldn't come to camp either"_

" _All healed now?" JJ asked as she joined the group heading into the main building._

" _Pretty much," Laurie said with a nod. "I didn't mean to get all weird before, I just got a little excited, I mean, you're like, the best"_

 _JJ blushed slightly, grinning. "I think that's Simone, but thank you"_

" _You're both awesome, I hope I can be as successful as you guys one day," Laurie replied._

 _Pushing open the gym door and holding it open for the girls, JJ's smile grew._

" _Keep working hard, don't give up, and you will be"_

With so much going on, JJ hadn't had a chance to worry about whatever was going on with Will. Her mind was solely on her gymnastics, and making the changes and improvements needed to secure herself a spot on upcoming teams.

But now, she was home, exhausted but motivated and hungry for whatever was coming next.

Her stomach was still fluttering with anxiety, a feeling that she had long embraced as a companion for some time. By this point, she didn't know if it was because of gymnastics, or Will, or something else... she just knew it was going to be the norm until everything started to settle down.

She'd texted Will earlier, letting him know she was home from camp and asking whether they were going to see each other that weekend. She had also asked if he was alright, but as she expected, he hadn't replied.

But as if on cue, her phone buzzed beside her.

Practically diving for it, she picked it up and immediately unlocked it. Sure enough, there was a text from Will.

 _ **I don't want to see you.**_

Her heart dropped into her stomach like a rock, and the tears were instantaneous. Like a flood of disbelief down her cheeks, she let them fall, sobbing openly as she tossed her phone to the end of her bed.

She didn't realise how loudly she was crying until her mom came into the room, clearly worried.

"What happened? What's wrong?" Sandy asked, the concern written all over her face as she approached JJ.

"I think Will's going to break up with me," JJ sobbed.

"Oh sweetheart," Sandy breathed, pulling JJ into her arms and holding her tight. "What's happened?"

"He won't talk to me... I messaged him before... and he flat out said he doesn't want to see me," JJ cried, clutching at her mom for the comfort she wanted so badly. "I must have... done something to make him... hate me"

Lost for words, all Sandy could do was hold her distraught daughter as she cried.

Something in JJ and Will's world had flipped all of a sudden. And it seemed no-one knew what it was.

* * *

"Everything ok? I thought I heard JJ crying," Michael asked as Sandy came into the lounge room nearly an hour later.

"Yeah," Sandy sighed, running a hand through her hair. "She and Will are going through a rough patch... she thinks he's going to break up with her"

Michael's face fell, a sigh escaping him as he sat down on the couch. "What's brought that on?"

Sandy shrugged, crossing the room to sit beside her husband. "No idea. He's acting strange though... hasn't spoken to her in a couple of weeks, he's avoiding her... she's pretty worked up about it"

"I always thought we could trust Will not to hurt her," Michael said quietly.

"I will admit though, this isn't like Will. They've been together for two years and friends for twelve... he's never done anything like this to her before, which makes me wonder if we should be worried about him as well," Sandy said. " And it's not like JJ to get this upset about something without knowing the full story. There's got to be something else going on"

"You know JJ though... she's stubborn as they come. If she doesn't want to tell you, you're not going to find out," Michael replied. "Just give her a little bit of time and space, and if she wants to tell you about whatever else is on her mind, she will"

Silence fell for a minute, Sandy resting her head on Michael's shoulder as they settled back, before Michael spoke again.

"Is she ok now?"

"She fell asleep," Sandy replied. "She was exhausted from camp, I wonder if a decent night's sleep might make it all less horrible for her in the morning"

"Hopefully," Michael said, wrapping an arm around Sandy's shoulders. "We'll just have to keep an eye on her for now. But she'll be fine in the long run. She's Jennifer Jareau"

Smiling, Sandy nodded.

Jennifer Jareau was stronger than this. Of that, she was certain.


	60. Chapter 60

**A/N: I promise I'll update other fics soon!**

* * *

"Are you going to come out and be a socially functioning member of society?"

JJ rolled her eyes, dropping her gaze down to her lap as her dad chuckled in the doorway. She'd been sitting in solitary in her room, scrolling absently through her phone ever since she'd come home from training. Her meltdown the previous evening had concerned her parents, and she was more than aware of the fact they were watching her a little more closely than usual.

"Your mom and I are a little worried about you. You're not normally like this," Michael said gently.

"Will's not normally being a dick," JJ snapped.

"I know," Michael replied, keeping his voice level and calm. "It's just... you don't usually get this upset without knowing exactly what's going on... is there something else going on?"

"Dad, no, please just-"

"I haven't seen you like this since... since Rosaline died"

The name was enough to trigger the breaking of JJ's defense. Turning away, she pulled her knees up to her chest and buried her face into her arms. She was trying desperately not to cry; her eyes were still sore from the previous day.

"Oh, sweetheart, I'm sorry, I didn't want to upset you," Michael said hurriedly, finally coming into the room. Walking around the bed until he was in front of JJ, he sat down, placing an arm around her shoulders. JJ took a deep breath, lifting her face as she exhaled heavily, her eyes filled with fresh tears. They sat in silence for a moment, JJ laying her head on her father's shoulder as she wiped away her tears.

"You know its ten years... this year?"

Sighing heavily, Michael tipped his head, resting it against JJ's as he gently rubbed her back.

"I know... I've been trying not to think about it," he admitted quietly.

"I miss her so much," JJ whispered.

"Me too peanut," Michael replied, turning and kissing the top of JJ's head as he tightened his hold on her.

He could already tell it was shaping up to be a rough year.

* * *

Stressed, upset, and exhausted, JJ had not had a good weekend. She'd found herself inexplicably worked up over whatever was going on with Will on Sunday and it had led to her making herself sick on more than one occasion.

As a result, Monday training was not going well.

"Come _on_ JJ, I don't know what else to say to you. You've been doing this skill since you were twelve, I don't know why you all of a sudden can't do it anymore," Nick said exasperatedly after JJ had fallen on her Tkatchev for the sixth time.

"I just can't, ok!" JJ shot back, turning her back on her coach as she went over to the chalk bucket.

"Get up there and do it again," Nick said sharply. "You're going to catch it this time"

After furiously rechalking her grips, JJ returned to the bars with an expression akin to a thundercloud. Ignoring Nick's pointed look, she jumped up, grabbing the bar and casting up to handstand.

Two giant swings, followed by a tap into her release.

Her hands missed the bar, and she was on her knees on the mat.

"Maybe we'll just take it out and you can go back to doing a level 10 bar routine," Nick said, his voice dripping with frustration.

"I don't need to take it out," JJ spat, pulling herself up and starting to walk away from the bars as she undid her grips.

"JJ, get back here, we're not done! You're staying here until you catch one Tkatchev!" Nick called after her, the authority in his voice suddenly clear.

JJ suddenly threw her grips on the floor, turning around looking intent on shooting something back at her coach. But seconds later, she'd burst into tears, taking Nick completely by surprise.

"JJ, what's going on with you today?" Nick asked, his voice much softer now.

"Will's being an asshole," JJ sobbed, sinking down onto a stack of mats and resting her head on her arms.

Sighing, Nick sat down beside her. "He's a male, JJ, we're all assholes"

"It's just... everything's stressing me out, the last thing I needed was for him to start being a dick as well," JJ replied.

"What's stressing you out?" Nick asked.

"Everything!" JJ exclaimed, lifting her face to look at Nick. "Gymnastics, Will, life in general"

Nick shook his head. "I don't want you to stress about your gymnastics, ok? If we don't count today, you're looking excellent leading into the year. I'm here to guide you through all this, alright? I'm going to get you through this year just fine, and I don't want you worrying about it. Competition pressure is ok. Stressing in general... just leave that to me, ok, I do a fine enough job of that on my own"

JJ managed a weak giggle.

"Why don't we break early today? Go home, get your dad, and go for some ice-cream, or go home, watch a movie and relax for a while. We can tackle bars later, but I don't want you in here as upset as you are now. It's a recipe for disaster," Nick said gently. "If Will wants to come to his senses, he will, but in the meantime, you gotta start kicking ass and showing him what he's missing"

JJ cracked a smile as Nick gave her a tight squeeze.

"Thanks Nick," she breathed, rising up from where she was sitting and scooping her grips up off the floor.

"Get back here for three, ready to absolutely slay!" Nick called after her.

Laughing, JJ turned, nodding before heading back to the locker room to grab her things.

Slay she would.

* * *

 **Skill Guide**

 _Tap_ – from handstand on top of the bar, the gymnast swings down into her next skill. Before the skill, you will notice her body shape change significantly to an arched shape. This is called the tap, and allows gymnasts to generate more momentum for release skills and dismounts.


	61. Chapter 61

**A/N: Another one!**

* * *

It was late on Wednesday night when both Sandy and Michael were drawn to the sound of JJ thundering down the stairs.

"Where are you going?" Sandy asked incredulously as JJ grabbed her jacket from the banister of the stairs.

"To kick the shit out of Will," JJ said furiously, heading for the front door.

"JJ... JJ, wait," Sandy called after her, rounding the counter and following her daughter, who was now halfway down the front path. Michael followed, wondering if something else had come up in the drama that seemed to surround JJ lately.

"JJ!" Sandy yelled as JJ stormed off down the street in the direction of Will's house.

"Just let her go," Michael said calmly, holding his wife back with a gentle hand on her shoulder. "Lord knows that boy needs the wrath of Jennifer Jareau to knock some sense into his head"

* * *

"Oh, hi JJ... I didn't know you were coming around," was William Sr's confused greeting about twenty minutes later.

"Hi William, is Will here?" JJ asked somewhat anxiously.

"Sure, he's upstairs...," William trailed off, stepping aside and watching as JJ headed up the stairs to Will's bedroom.

The closed door didn't slow her down, and without even knocking, she simply threw it open.

It flew open with a crash, causing Will to nearly jump out of his skin as he leapt up to see who'd come barging in.

"Jesus Christ, JJ, you nearly scared me to death!" Will exclaimed. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm not putting up with this bullshit anymore Will! I don't deserve to be treated like this, so if you want to break up with me, stop being a fucking coward and just say it!" JJ spat angrily, crossing the room in furious strides and giving Will a hard shove to the chest.

Staggering back, Will looked dumbfounded. "Wha... break up with you? Why would I want to break up with you?"

JJ's eyes filled with tears. "What am I supposed to think, Will, you've done nothing but treat me like shit for the past two weeks, _"I don't want to talk to you",_ _"I don't want to see you",_ what the fuck kind of reaction did you think that was going to get?!"

Realising now why JJ was so riled up, Will relaxed, slowly approaching her.

"JJ... I'm sorry... I didn't mean to do that to you," he said softly.

"Well what the hell is going on?!" JJ asked tearfully.

"My parents are moving back to New Orleans," Will said quietly. "Dad got transferred"

Crumbling, tears dripped down JJ's cheeks as she fought to keep her composure. "So that's it then? We're done?"

Will looked confused. "What do you mean?"

"We have it hard enough as it is Will, without adding long distance into the mix," JJ exclaimed, choking back a sob.

Will shook his head. "JJ, you're not hearing what I'm saying... my _parents_ are moving back to New Orleans... not me"

By now, JJ looked thoroughly overwhelmed. Reaching out, Will took her hands and guided her to sit on the edge of his bed. Sitting down beside her, he took her hand in his and gave it a gentle squeeze.

"I was going to move with them... but I couldn't be happy there. I love New Orleans and I miss it, but I'm happier here than I've ever been in my whole life, and you're the reason why, JJ. I don't ever plan on letting you go, and I know that adding long distance to our already crazy relationship would be the straw that broke the camel's back. I've been avoiding you because I didn't know how to tell you when they first told me. It was only the other day I made the decision to stay, but I knew you were already pissed off with me, so I was trying to work out how to fix what I screwed up without upsetting you even more," Will explained.

"Will... New Orleans is a long way away," JJ said softly, her tears mostly dried. "I don't want you to be halfway around the country from your parents just because of me"

"It's ok," Will said, a warm smile crossing his face. "I'm a big boy, I'll survive. Besides... I would've moved out within the next year or so anyway, and I'd rather it be somewhere that I know people, have a secure job, and am familiar with"

JJ said nothing, simply moving to rest her head on Will's shoulder.

"I've already found an apartment. It's near the gym, so if you don't feel like driving home after practice, you can just stay with me," Will said with a smile.

"I'm still mad at you for ignoring me," JJ mumbled.

"I know, and I'm sorry. I didn't handle that very well at all, but in my defense... it was a lot to take in all at once," Will said, wrapping an arm around JJ's shoulders. "Are you ok though? I don't think I've ever seen you this upset"

"It's been a shitty month," JJ said, her voice muffled by Will's shirt. "I've been stressing about gymnastics, and then about two weeks ago, I remembered that this year will be ten years since Roz died, and then you weren't talking to me, and I basically spent the whole weekend crying"

"Oh JJ, I'm really sorry," Will said sincerely, pulling JJ into a tight embrace. "I honestly didn't mean to upset you"

Breathing deeply, JJ relaxed into Will's arms.

She was still slightly mad at him. But knowing he wasn't about to end their relationship had certainly lifted a lot of the stress and anxiety from her shoulders.

It was nice to have his comfort to run to again.

* * *

When she closed the front door as quietly as possible an hour later, it was with a much more relaxed demeanour.

Turning in the direction of the stairs, she found her mother waiting up for her, reading by the light of the lamp beside the sofa.

"Everything ok?" Sandy asked gently, marking her page before looking up at JJ.

Considering telling her mother everything, JJ hesitated for a moment. Eventually, she chose to just nod.

"Everything's fine," she said, taking a step into the room.

"Can I safely assume that you two are still together?"

JJ smiled. "Yes, you can"

Sandy smiled, standing up from the sofa and placing her book down on the end table before approaching her daughter.

"I'll tell you what happened tomorrow," JJ said softly. "I'm really tired... I think I'm just going to go to bed"

Nodding, Sandy gave JJ a quick squeeze, before pressing a kiss to her forehead.

"Get some rest. You need it," she said warmly. JJ nodded, turning and heading up the stairs through the quiet of the house.

Once JJ had disappeared from view, Sandy made the rounds of the ground floor, turning off all the lights and checking all the doors.

She was glad that at least something was starting to straighten out.


	62. Chapter 62

**A/N: Omg the European Championships were awesome and I HAVEN'T EVEN WATCHED THEM YET.**

* * *

"Yes, yes... PUSH!"

With a THWACK, JJ landed hard on the crash mat at the end of the tumble track, her feet securely beneath her as she carried her arms straight up above her head to finish it off.

What she had just landed was a double twisting double back tuck – an incredibly difficult skill that she had never imagined herself doing. But under Nick's constant guidance (and Aimee's helpful input at camps), she had mastered it with plenty of time to include it for Jesolo team consideration.

The previous year, her tumbles had consisted of a double layout, a triple twist, a full in double back tuck, and a double pike. But Nick, ever confident that JJ was capable of much more, had laid out a strong plan to upgrade her routine according to the foundation she already had.

As a result, she now had a much more difficult routine. Her opening pass was still a double layout, but her successive passes were now a double double, a double Arabian, with a full in double tuck to close. She was pushing her own limits, and it felt good to have a complete change up; it made coming to the gym feel refreshing again.

"You are getting scarily good, you know that? That's almost ready to go to a competition surface," Nick said, clearly impressed. "Just make sure you open it up in time for landing so you minimise the deductions for having your chest down"

JJ nodded, smiling as she pulled herself back up onto the track.

"While you have a little break... there's something I want to talk to you about," Nick said quietly, hopping up onto a stack of crash mats to take a seat.

Giving him her full attention, JJ sat down and started gently stretching out her legs on the track.

"I'm going to be hiring an elite assistant coach sometime in the next couple of months," Nick started. "Before you get worried, I'm not palming you off to someone else. I'll still be your primary coach, but whoever I end up hiring will have a heavy hand in your training and will be here primarily to help us get you through the next two seasons. It'll also allow me to start working a little more with the level tens, because no doubt some of them will be qualifying elite soon, and I need to be working with them more often"

JJ nodded understandingly.

"I'm also going to be switching up the training groups. You train pretty much on your own all the time, and while it works for us, it's a little lonely. I have two younger kids who have just started homeschooling because they want to qualify elite by next year, so I'm going to put the three of you in a training group two days a week. That way, they'll get to see how you and I work together, and you'll have some company"

"Is one of them Kate?" JJ asked.

Nick grinned. "One of them is Kate. The other one is Clem"

JJ nodded; she knew both of the girls. Kate Albridge was JJ's little sidekick in the gym. She was a pretty little thing with long blonde hair and a fair complexion that had earned her the moniker of 'JJ 2.0'. Kate was outgoing enough for every girl in the gym; a trait that had become clear when she'd met JJ at age four and had decided they were going to be best buddies. The fiery almost twelve year old was a strong competitor with a head for competition that reminded JJ of Aly. She had her sights set on the 2019 World Championships, and then, and only then, would she decide if she was going to shoot for the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo. She had a mature outlook on her gymnastics, but a fierce determination that brewed inside her every waking hour of the day.

Clementine Avrett, or Clem, was a year younger than Kate, and so her sights were already fixed firmly on the Tokyo Olympics. Having moved to Pennsylvania at the end of the 2012 with her family, she had been a new enrolment for 2013. At first, she had been a little starstruck to be training in the same gym as JJ, but she had quite quickly taken it in her stride. She was a gorgeous girl with a shiny crop of fiery red hair whose elegant lines and balletic style belied the power she was capable of. JJ was looking forward to training with the girls and being able to mentor them as they started their difficult journey through the elite ranks.

"Because you'll be working the most with the new coach out of anyone, I want you to be a part of the interviewing process, because I don't want to hire someone you're not going to get along with," Nick said, breaking JJ from her thoughts.

"Will the new coach come to competitions?" JJ asked.

Nick shook his head. "Not at this stage. I'll still be the one on the floor with you, and then when you get sent away for assignments, they'll be staying here to run the level ten and elite programs while I'm gone"

JJ nodded. "Ok, that makes enough sense"

"All ok with you?"

JJ nodded again. "Sounds good to me"

Nick broke into a relaxed smile. "Good. A lot of things will change, but I think it's all for the good"

Getting to her feet, JJ smiled at her coach. "Well, I'm looking forward to it"

"Alright kiddo, we'll finish up for today, go enjoy the rest of your weekend and I'll see you on Monday"

* * *

" _So what the hell happened with you and Will? I never got around to asking you after you sent me all those messages"_

"His parents told him they're moving back to New Orleans and he freaked out and didn't know how to tell me," JJ replied. She was sitting in the lounge room with her mom, Facetiming Aly while her mom graded some pop quizzes. It seemed like her mom's work as a high school teacher always took a backseat to everything else that happened in their family, but somehow, Sandy always managed to get everything done to the highest standard.

" _Oh my god, is he moving too? You must have been so upset"_

"Not anymore," JJ said with a grin. "He's staying here, he's got an apartment near the gym"

"But we didn't find that out until we got a whole lovely two weeks of crying, snapping, moping, and the occasional episode of vomiting," Sandy interjected.

"Yeah, well, I was very worried," JJ replied dryly as Aly giggled.

" _Oh well, is everything ok now?"_

"Yeah, it's all good now. He's still a bit stressed about actually being on his own, but he'll be ok"

Michael appeared in the doorway, looking slightly strained.

"JJ, you got any of those painkillers you use for muscle strains?" he asked in a hushed tone, not wanting to disturb her phone call too much.

"In my bathroom cabinet," JJ replied. "There's some Deep Heat in there too"

"Thanks"

After her dad had gone from sight, JJ turned back to Aly.

" _I have afternoon training in an hour, oh my gooood, Mihai is TRYING to kill me"_

JJ laughed. "If you want more medals, you gotta work hard"

" _I know. Still killing me. I've got a double lay on floor now, I'm catching you!"_

"I've got a double double," JJ said, biting her lip as a grin tried to creep through.

" _Well hot damn girlfriend, guess I better go get my gold medal and post it to you"_

Sandy snorted, shaking her head as she flipped to the next paper in her stack.

" _Chasing Simone like the baby boomers chasing the American dream?"_

"You bet," JJ chuckled.

" _I was whining to my mom the other day, and she was like 'you can quit Aly, I'm not making you go back', and well, I guess I got a little sassy, because she turned around and goes 'I bet JJ doesn't give Sandy lip'"_

"Oh yes she does," Sandy answered, making the girls laugh again. "You tell your mom not to believe everything she sees"

" _I'll tell her. In the meantime, I gotta go. Dominic is coming this afternoon to work on my floor routine with us. Gotta work on my killer dance moves for Worlds"_

Laughing, JJ nodded. "Alright. I'll talk to you later"

" _Catch ya!"_

No sooner had she hung up than she heard someone clear their throat.

"Uh, JJ?"

Both JJ and Sandy looked up towards Michael, who was standing in the doorway to the lounge room, an open cardboard packet in his hand. It took JJ only a second to realise it was the box of condoms she'd stashed at the back of her bathroom cabinet.

"What are these?" he asked quietly. But he wasn't asking literally.

For a moment, JJ started to feel embarrassed. But just as quickly, she pushed it away. She knew her dad already knew, and this was her chance to have a little joke.

"They're condoms, Dad," she said confidently, noticing as Sandy bit back a grin. "You know, for when you don't want to get pregnant while you're having-"

"No, no, stop, I don't want to hear it!" Michael exclaimed dramatically, sending JJ and Sandy into peels of laughter. Michael stood there looking bewildered for a minute, before giving in, collapsing into the nearest armchair as he too started to laugh.

"Oh who am I kidding, you're twenty years old," he chuckled. "I guess I have to accept you're all grown up at some stage"

"Probably, Dad," JJ laughed. "But don't worry, I'm still your little jumping jack"

Michael smiled.

"My Olympic champion jumping jack, just like always"


	63. Chapter 63

**A/N: Yay for more gymnastics and antics!**

* * *

"Simone Biles, Gabby Douglas, Jennifer Jareau, Bailie Key, Maggie Nichols, Aly Raisman, and Kyla Ross will be attending the City of Jesolo Trophy as our senior team. Our junior team will be Norah Flatley, Jazmyn Foberg, Laurie Hernandez, Victoria Nguyen, Ragan Smith, and Olivia Trautman"

The 13 girls whose names had been called out immediately beamed.

It was March, and it was time to start ramping up for the competition season. The City of Jesolo Trophy was in a week's time, and the team was leaving the following morning.

The start of their season had seen the 2015 edition of the American Cup. Initially, Simone and JJ, as the top two Americans from Worlds, had been offered the places. Simone had accepted, but as she had said she would, JJ had turned it down, wanting a little extra time to work on her upgrades. She was hoping to use Jesolo as the testing ground; if she fell or had any major issues, it wouldn't drum up any negative rumours that she was burning out, which would have been the case if she had competed in Arlington.

JJ had spent the last two weeks of February helping Will settle into his new apartment. His parents had packed up and moved back down to the South, and the first few days of being completely independent had been a bit of a struggle for Will. But like JJ knew he would, he'd pushed through, and seemed to be doing just fine.

"You'll have to call Will and be like 'sorry, going to Italy, see you in three weeks'," Aly jibed as they were dismissed from the gym. JJ laughed.

"He'll survive. I'm pretty sure my mom has been making him come over for dinner, it's like she thinks he doesn't eat or something," JJ replied with a grin.

"Doesn't he find that awkward without you there?"

JJ shook her head. "No, he gets along really well with my parents. Especially my dad. When my mom came with me to the Classic last year, Will came over and watched it on TV with my dad"

Aly laughed. "Perfect male bonding session. Watching gymnastics"

"He'd never tell my dad, but I think he just likes watching my butt in a leotard"

Aly cracked up, shaking her head as she draped an arm around JJ's shoulders.

"He's a beautiful sweetheart, but deep down, he's still a red blooded male," she sighed dramatically, getting a grin out of JJ. "Clone him for me"

At that, JJ burst out laughing as they pushed open the doors and headed back out to the dorms.

* * *

" _You're going to Italy, how am I supposed to watch you compete?"_

JJ giggled. "Go see my dad, he has the whole "JJ's competing at an event with no television broadcast" thing downpat"

" _So this... Jesolo, is it? Is it a new competition? You've never been before have you?"_

"I have, I went in 2012. I didn't go the last two years because I was taking time off in 2013 and I was in a cast last year. It's generally pretty low key... if you do manage to watch it, don't expect it to resemble nationals or worlds at all"

" _I'll try my best to see it somehow, but keep me updated anyway"_

"I will," JJ replied as the bus they were taking from the ranch came to a stop outside the airport. "I have to go, but I'll call you when we get to the hotel"

" _Alright. Have a good flight. I love you"_

"I love you too," JJ said with a smile. Bidding goodbye, she hung up the call, grabbing her backpack and swinging out into the aisle to get off the bus. The thirteen girls gathered on the sidewalk, their huge backpacks on the backs as the coaches pulled their bigger bags from the belly of the bus.

Then, with Marta at the helm, they headed into the airport and off to begin their journey to Jesolo.

* * *

It was nearly fifteen hours later that they were on the bus from Venice to Jesolo. While most of them were used to long periods of travel, it didn't stop the snarkiness that came with being tired. Simone and JJ had had an exhaustion fuelled spat in the airport in Paris that had been promptly broken up by Aly and Laurie. Somehow, they'd started arguing in the chair bank, with JJ complaining that Simone was being too manic, which had earned scathing sarcasm from the younger girl in response. After Simone spent five minutes purposefully trying to annoy JJ, the two of them had leapt out of their chairs, which had immediately prompted Aly to jump between them and exclaim that everyone was tired. Laurie, ever the ray of sunshine, had loudly suggested they hug it out.

Thankfully, Marta had been in the bathroom.

The flight to Venice had been much shorter, and by the time they had landed, JJ and Simone had cleared the air again.

Now, they were almost at the hotel, and gladly, they had the rest of the day to settle in and catch up on sleep before entering into their pre-competition training program the following morning.

The seaside town of Jesolo was a surprisingly popular place, and while the competition was nothing fancy like the girls were accustomed to, they all thoroughly enjoyed having the chance to attend it if only for its stunning location.

"I'm gonna take a nap," JJ sighed half an hour later when she finally collapsed into her bed.

"You and me both," Aly yawned, dropping her backpack on the floor and falling into her own bed. "Maybe you'll be less cranky afterwards"

"Shut up," JJ mumbled.

Aly laughed. "Cranky pants"

But she got no reply, for JJ had already fallen asleep.


	64. Chapter 64

**A/N: It tickles my fancy when my final word count is 747.**

* * *

Marta had worked them to the grindstone for the first few days of training in Jesolo. Everyone was looking as strong as they could be expected to be that early in the season, and the beautiful locale of Jesolo was definitely keeping their spirits up as they prepared for competition.

After a morning training session, the girls and their coaches had headed down to the beachfront to get lunch at a nearby cafe, before enjoying the warm sunshine for a few hours.

"I kinda can't believe the last time the four of us competed together was in London!" Aly exclaimed as they sat waiting for their food. JJ and Kyla were sitting across from her, with Gabby at her side.

"It's so crazy. I miss Mac though," Gabby said softly. "I hope she's feeling better soon"

"The Fierce Five will be together again, don't you worry," Aly said confidently, smiling as the waitress who'd come over placed her meal in front of her. "For now, we just gotta focus on what's ahead"

Once everyone's meal had arrived, they ate together, conversation flowing freely around the table. Simone had everyone laughing, her infectious giggles filling the space around them as they enjoyed their meals.

One thing JJ had noticed was starkly different to her last quad of competition was that Marta and the other national team staff seemed far more relaxed. The girls were still held to the same standards, but were also given much more freedom both at camps and when they were away on assignment.

And she could bet it had a lot to do with Simone's entrance into the senior ranks. Simone was naturally bubbly and excitable, but still produced amazing results. To Marta, it must have been a wakeup call; the girls didn't have to be serious all the time to prove they were still at the World and Olympic standard of competition.

For the girls like JJ, Aly, and Gabby, it was a refreshing change.

* * *

"So we've finished training for today, we're kinda dying, but Aly and JJ are taking us to the beach-"

"-again," JJ cut in before Simone's video stopped recording. The girls laughed as Simone saved the snap and sent it out to her story.

"Maybe we'll pick up some beautiful Italian men!" Laurie chimed in.

"Laurie, you're fourteen, that's practically a baby, you don't need a man," Aly said as they all giggled. "Besides, JJ doesn't need one, she's got a beautiful man waiting in Pittsburgh"

"I don't know if beautiful is the right word," JJ said with a grin.

"Oh shush, he's beautiful inside and out, you don't know how lucky you are," Aly laughed.

"What does he look like?" Laurie asked. "Does he look like a beautiful Italian man?"

At that, the laughter just continued.

"You're really hung up on that beautiful Italian man," Simone giggled. "Don't you know Italian men are quite hairy?"

By now they had reached the beach in fits of laughter. A little way behind them, Kyla, Norah, and Ragan were walking in more subdued conversation of their own, while Jazzy Foberg hung just behind Laurie, grinning at the comments being flung back and forth.

"Aly, I'm gonna start calling you Mama Aly," Simone said as they walked across the sand. "You always give great advice. About not needing beautiful Italian men"

"I'll add it to my list of nicknames," Aly said dryly before they all laughed once more. "JJ already calls me Grandma Aly"

"Says the girl who was calling me Cranky Pants last night," JJ scoffed.

"Well, I wasn't the one trying to rip Simone's head off in Charles de Gaulle," Aly teased.

"Do either of you actually go by your full names ever?" Jazzy cut in, changing the topic of conversation.

"Nope," JJ said. "Only if I'm in trouble. Which is never"

"Don't lie, Nick yells your full name if you're being an ass in the gym," Aly laughed.

"Ok, that too," JJ nodded, grinning.

"Oh man, this sunset is so pretty!" Simone gasped, having finally noticed the orange and pink tones streaking across the sky. "I love Jesolo"

Settling into a comfortable silence, the girls all sat down on the sand to watch the sun sink below the horizon, all squished together in a row. Smiles adorned all their faces, their heads bent down to each other's shoulders as the sky slowly darkened around them.

She was halfway around the world... but she was still with her family.


	65. Chapter 65

**A/N: Nice long one!**

* * *

She was standing at the end of the runway in the crowded and noisy gymnasium, blocking out the noise as she focused on her vault.

It was only Jesolo, a meet that really only attracted locals, family, and hardcore gymnastics fans. But it was the first time she was going to compete her Amanar, and regardless of how important the meet was, she wanted it to go well.

Seeing the judge raise the green flag, she immediately saluted, and lined herself up once more.

And then she took off, breaking into a measured run down towards the table. Her roundoff and flip back felt strong, allowing her to wrap the twist in quickly when she pushed off of the table.

Sensing the landing coming, she started to open out.

Her feet hit the mat, but just a split second later, she was sitting down.

'Damn it,' she thought, pulling herself back up to her feet and acknowledging the judges before walking over to Nick.

"There wasn't enough height and you opened up way too soon," he said matter-of-factly. "When you opened up the twist, I thought you'd decided to stick with your DTY, you needed to hold it in just a little longer"

"Ok," JJ said softly, starting to walk back to the end of the runway again; she was also using Jesolo as her training ground for her second vault, which after how her Amanar had ended, she was more determined to make it a good one.

Less than a minute later, her score was up; 14.733, and she had her green light for her second vault, a Lopez.

She took off as soon as she had saluted, powering towards the table with more energy than ever. The roundoff was again strong, and her half turn onto the table was almost completely around. She pulled in another half twist, executing the laidout flip as well, before landing with her feet firmly beneath her on the mat. Nick gave a satisfied nod, clapping with the crowd as she walked off the mat and fell into step beside him.

"Really good. Really good. Do it like that every time and I won't have to say anything more," he said happily.

Despite the fall, she was smiling as she went to get her grips, stopping as she did to give an encouraging cheer to Aly, who was vaulting next.

Pushing vault to the back of her mind, she shifted her focus to the next event; bars.

* * *

Bars had gone pretty well for the Americans. For JJ, it certainly couldn't have gone any worse than vault, and when she landed her double layout dismount, she was just glad to have made it through without falling off.

Now, she was about to go on beam.

"You got it JJ, let's go!" the girls were calling out from the sidelines.

Her name was announced to the crowd, garnering applause, before she saluted and took a deep breath.

Running to the springboard, she punched off of it and flipped through the air to land solidly on the beam surface. Behind her, Nick pulled the springboard out of the way, before moving back to where the team was standing at the edge of the mats.

A little bit of choreography straight off the top moved her forward enough to safely fit in her standing Arabian, turning her back around to face the end of the beam. Breathing deeply to settle herself, she swung her arms down and back again, flipping into an Onodi, before connecting it directly to two consecutive front aerials. A little wobble at the end threatened to rattle her, but she held onto it. Three tenths max, she thought to herself.

Some low beam choreography turned her around, allowing her to take a powerful stride down the beam before punching into a front tuck. She was supposed to connect it straight into a wolf jump, but her landing wasn't completely on. Rather than attempt it and fall, she solidified herself on the landing and chose to omit the wolf jump altogether. One missed connection was not the end of the world, especially at Jesolo.

"Nice! Come on!" Simone called out.

A little bit of choreo took her to the end of the beam. Swinging her arms up above her head, she flipped back into a back handspring, to another back handspring, to her layout full twist.

She hit the beam slightly off balance, sending her weight flying to the side.

"Come on! Pull it back!" the girls yelled as she waved her arms around to try and keep her weight more centred.

By a small miracle, she stayed on.

"Yeah! Nice!"

Leap series. Switch split, to switch half. Full turn.

Just the dismount.

"Come on JJ, push it!"

She flipped easily across the beam, rebounding into her signature full twisting double, with only a hop on the landing to keep her balance. The girls cheered, glad that she'd nailed her beam routine to count towards their team total.

"Nice resurgence from vault," Nick said with a chuckle as she walked over to join them. "Good job, even without those connections, it'll be a decent score. Just gotta clean it up"

"Beam queen!" Simone exclaimed, running up to hug JJ as soon as Nick let her go. JJ laughed, hugging Simone back as they rejoined the team.

"If you don't win Worlds this year, I'll eat a gold medal," Aly teased, making the others laugh.

"You're all talk Raisman," JJ jibed, accepting a hug from her best friend as Maggie left to prepare for her beam routine.

"Only for you," Aly joked, making JJ laugh.

With the exception of vault, it was so far, so good.

* * *

"So... JJ's routine is the most difficult of the American team?" Will asked as Michael turned up the volume on the TV they were watching the Jesolo competition on.

"Yes, but only by about three tenths over Simone," Sandy replied from her seat on the opposite couch.

"The other girls look like they do more skills though," Will said, confused. Sandy nodded.

"They mostly do. The way Nick has built JJ's routine is actually very clever, and it's the reason Marta made him the national coach for beam. JJ has this fearless ability to do very difficult skills on the beam that many of the other girls can't do. Her layout full and her dismount, for example, are worth point seven in difficulty value each. So instead of having her up there working herself tireless doing a million skills to earn connection value, Nick has tried to pack most of her difficulty into her bigger skills, and the bulk of her connection value comes from her series instead of skills that have the potential to go awry. With her skill values and series alone, she still gets a D score of 6.7, which is more than enough to be competitive for titles"

"See, she's never really explained how the scoring works to me. I get it in little bits and pieces, but not a lot," Will replied. Michael chuckled.

"Ah, well you're in luck. She explained it all to me before the London Olympics, so I've had three years to learn it and understand it. Basically, every skill a gymnast can do has a skill value assigned to it in the context of the event – for example, a two and a half twist on vault and a two and a half twist on floor have different values because the vault version of the skill is much more difficult. Each event except vault has criteria that have to be filled, and that awards... I think she said it was 2.5 towards their difficulty value, and the rest of the D score comes from the skill values and connection bonuses between skills. Then you have execution which starts from 10-"

"- and that's where the deductions get taken from," Will finished.

"Exactly. Then the two scores are added together to get the final score. JJ's beam routine could get a 17 if she was absolutely perfect, but she usually scores around the mid to high 15s which, again, is a very strong score for a very difficult routine"

They had been watching the Jesolo competition for over an hour, and the girls were now moving around to floor. They'd missed vault, but with a quick search on Tumblr, Will had managed to discover that JJ had fallen.

JJ was going first, and her routine was completely new. New tumbles, new music, new choreo, everything. It was upbeat, energetic... and oddly fitting.

They watched as she took off into her opening pass, the double double which had been furiously worked on in the gym since coming back after worlds.

It looked good in the air, but upon landing, it was clear it hadn't been so great. A huge stumble forward followed by her hands being thrown down to the floor, much to everyone's dismay.

Looking a little deflated, JJ picked herself up immediately and carried on with the routine. Her next tumbling line was her double layout. Other than being a little bit short, it was largely ok.

By the time she'd reached the section of choreography in the middle, a hint of a smile had returned to her face. She was enjoying the music, enjoying the feeling of competing again.

Her double Arabian was high and flighty, with a hop forward to steady herself before she turned and galloped into her switch ring leap.

"The one thing Marta loves about JJ is her leaps – she hits 180 almost every time, and that's what the judges want, because they deduct for anything less," Michael explained as they watched.

To close out was her full in double tuck, finished with a stuck landing and smile as she struck her final pose.

"Not her best, but considering it's this early in the season, not bad," Sandy said with a shrug. "Plenty of time to fix things"

"Nick will have it planned out already," Michael chuckled. "She'll be a force to be reckoned with by Worlds"

* * *

 _ **JJ fell on her vault at Jesolo! She's always so consistent, what happened?**_

 _She was debuting a new vault, and decided to use Jesolo as the testing ground, even though it was said after the last camp that it probably needed another month or so before it was completely competition ready. The team competition at Jesolo wasn't exactly anyone's greatest day (save for Simone), but that's ok, they're not aiming to peak for Jesolo, they're aiming to peak in October for Worlds. JJ's fall wasn't anything to worry about, I'm sure. If the Amanar gives her trouble consistently, I'm sure Marta will have her compete her DTY instead, but judging from the height she got off the table in Jesolo, I don't think it's going to be a problem with some more work._

 _ **I was adding up JJ's beam D score as she competed in Jesolo... I'm pretty sure I got like a 7.0, and she said on Twitter that that was WITH a missed connection! Is that right?**_

 _Yeah, all I can say is the girl is crazy, in a good way! The routine she's aiming for in the future has a total D score of 7.2, which is INSANE for beam, but I mean, for her, it's like a walk in the park. She was supposed to connect a wolf jump out of her front tuck, and the connection on her leap series probably wasn't granted either, which is like NBD for her, let's be fair. Her routine has a lot of wiggle room, which is very clever. If she gets up one day and isn't feeling the standing Arabian, she doesn't have to do it – she only does it because she likes the skill. She can downgrade her turn if she's having an iffy day. She can take out the mixed connection. She can do all of that at once and still have a routine worth about 6.6-6.8 and still be comfortably in the lead on the apparatus. Her routine theoretically looks impossible but she makes it look easy and impressive, and that's what gymnastics is supposed to be._

 _ **Did you ever imagine JJ doing a double double?**_

 _Three years ago, I never imagined that JJ would be at all where she is today, so no, I never imagined that she would be doing a double double on floor by this year. It wasn't the greatest double double I've ever seen, but believe me, I've seen worse._

 _ **Do you think JJ was a bit of a mess in Jesolo?**_

 _Well, I mean, sort of, but not really? They're not trying to peak for Jesolo – they're trying to peak for Worlds. The thing with Jesolo is, the US is basically going to win unless they all lost a limb five minutes before the final, they have that much of an advantage over the other teams. So most of the girls use Jesolo as the testing ground for new skills they're planning on taking to bigger meets, and that's exactly what JJ did on both vault and floor. Her vault is going to happen, I'm almost sure of it, so forget that. Her double double... I don't know, her coach said it looked great in the gym so maybe it was just a nervy moment? I wouldn't worry about it for her future prospects – JJ's never taken a skill she's not 100 percent on to any major meet; if it's inconsistent, she'll take it out._

 _ **JJ's bars were like her best routine yesterday, I find that hilarious.**_

 _Oh me too, I mean, her bars aren't awful, but they outscored her beam after all those wobbles which is so funny._

* * *

 **Skill Guide**

 _Lopez –_ from a roundoff, the gymnast executes a half turn between the springboard and the table, so she blocks from the table with her hands facing towards the landing mat. From her hands, she executes one and a half laidout forward flips, with a half twist to landing facing towards the table. Generally an easier vault, and used in the progression to a Cheng.

 _Onodi –_ a back handspring with a half twist before the hands touch the beam, turning it into a front walkover


	66. Chapter 66

**A/N: Loads more to come!**

* * *

As well as taking team gold with the seniors on the first day, JJ had scraped out an all-around silver by less than a tenth over Bailie Key, as well as qualifying to three of four event finals. Her mistakes on floor had been enough to shut her out of the final due to the two per country rule that was in place, and the fact that Aly had scored higher than her.

There, she had done very well. In vault finals, she had downgraded her Amanar back to a DTY to play it safe, coupling it with a very respectable Lopez to grab another silver behind Simone. Bars had seen a few minor mistakes, keeping her in second yet again while Kyla grabbed the title. Beam and floor, however, had gone better than planned, and she'd taken the senior beam title over Simone, as well as another silver behind Simone on floor.

All in all, despite the mistakes, it had been a good competition for Team USA, and they were easily going home with a handful of medals. After two days following the conclusion of competition to explore Jesolo and enjoy the location, they were headed home.

After the first leg to Paris was over, the girls were hanging around in the transit lounge. Simone was snapchatting with furor, keeping all the girls entertained.

"JJ, do you miss your boyfriend?" Simone asked with a giggle as she held her phone so that JJ was visible behind her.

"Yes," JJ said, pouting dramatically as they all giggled.

"A few more hours and you'll be in his arms," Aly said dramatically, flopping into JJ's lap as Simone's video stopped recording. Giggling, Simone dropped down between JJ and Maggie, posting the video to her story.

By morning, they would all be home.

* * *

 _ **Why is JJ doing an Amanar if she can't even land it in competition? Does she think she's Simone Biles?**_

 _Haha, I can't tell if you're being serious or not. JJ used Jesolo as the testing ground for an Amanar that probably needed another month or so in the gym. She doesn't think she's Simone... no-one in their right mind thinks they're Simone except Simone._

 _ **Has JJ peaked?!**_

 _Ok almost every question I've got this past week has been to this effect. No, I don't think she's peaked. JJ had a peak in London, where she was one of the best of the bunch and cleaned up five of five medals available to her. In 2013, her coach, Nick, made a very smart move and had her take a season off of competing all-around, and scaled back her difficulty on beam and floor. They're slowly rebuilding adding in upgrades in preparation for next summer, and this has allowed JJ to have a an unexpected rise to the top. She's already passed the level she was at in London, and she's only going to get better. A few falls in Jesolo means nothing in the bigger picture._

 _ **When did JJ go pro? Was she originally planning on competing NCAA?**_

 _JJ went pro the week before the 2012 Olympic Trials when it became clear that barring a catastrophe, she was going to make the team. Even so, she said at the time that it still felt like a tentative decision, but one that she made with the full support of her family and her coach. And yes, she was originally planning on competing NCAA. She was initially verbally committed to the University of Florida, and she and Aly were going to be competing there starting in the 2012-2013 season. When Aly started considering going pro in 2011, JJ changed her mind and switched her verbal commitment to LSU, but then gave up her eligibility altogether when she went pro in June 2012._

* * *

The next morning, JJ was home, her Jesolo medals proudly added to the glimmering collection in the corner of her room. With both of her parents at work, it was Will who had picked her up at the airport. After showering and changing following the three flights it had taken to get from Italy to home, she had had all intentions of taking a well earned nap. However, that had been pushed back for a little while when Will got a little handsy.

After a bit of fooling around, JJ had succumbed to exhaustion, taking a hard earned nap while Will watched a movie beside her.

It was afternoon when she finally awoke again to find Will scrolling absently through Facebook on his phone. Still half asleep, she wriggled over so she could cuddle up to his side, draping an arm across his stomach and laying her head on his shoulder.

"Hey," she mumbled softly, a tired smile on her face.

"Hey sleepy head," Will replied, breaking his attention for a moment to lean down and give her a kiss.

"Whatcha doin?" JJ asked, reaching up and turning his phone in his hand so she could see it.

"Uh, looking at Facebook," Will chuckled. "You quite right there?"

"Mhm," JJ replied, reaching behind her and grabbing her own phone as Will kept scrolling. She opened Snapchat, swiping over to the camera and taking a highly exaggerated selfie, before posting it to her story.

A few more weird photos and videos found their way onto her Snapchat with Will choosing to ignore what she was doing, before she decided to get him in on the action.

"Will," she said, recording as she did. "Will"

"What," Will mumbled, his eyes still glued to his phone.

"Wiiiiilll," JJ whined, poking his side and getting a yelp out of him.

"Ow!" he laughed, finally seeing what she was doing. He chuckled as she added the video to the already long story and immediately went to record another.

"What are you even doing?" he asked as she started recording. "You're in a really weird mood"

JJ laughed, leaning over and giving him a chaste kiss before giggling.

"Blame it on the jetlag," she whispered.

"Yeah, I will, because you're weird and annoying," Will chuckled, looking pointedly at the camera as the last seconds began to roll around. "Don't believe everything you see from her in competition, she's actually crazy"

JJ burst out laughing as the video stopped recording, adding it to her story and tossing her phone down on the bed, before pulling herself up and swinging her leg over Will's so she was straddling his lap.

"I missed you," she said softly, the brief bout of half asleep weirdness seemingly gone.

Will smiled up at her, also tossing his phone aside before wrapping his arms loosely around her waist.

"I missed you too. Missed your craziness," he chuckled.

Leaning down, JJ kissed him again, but this time, with the passion and intensity she'd been craving for since they left for Jesolo. Will kissed her back just as fiercely, his hands sliding down onto her ass and pulling her closer. His tongue brushed her lower lip, deepening the kiss, raising the heat.

Their makeout session was getting more heated by the minute, both of them wanting as much of each other as they could get. The occurrence earlier hadn't gone any further than wandering hands, considering JJ was so tired. With their rough patch earlier in the year, coupled with Will's stress about having his own place, and JJ's stress about gymnastics, it had been what felt like forever since they had been properly intimate with each other, and the tension of that fact was radiating off of both of them.

Just when Will's hand was starting to slide up JJ's shirt, the slam of the front door made them jump apart.

"JJ, are you home?" came her mother's voice from the bottom of the stairs.

Will groaned.

JJ laughed.

"Tonight, I promise," she chuckled, patting his chest, before climbing off him and heading for the door. "We'll stay at your place, and you'll have me all day tomorrow as well"

"I'm holding you to that," Will called after her. Her laugh floated back up the stairs as she went down to see her mom, making his smile grow even wider.

He loved his crazy girl.

* * *

 _ **jareaumanar: AHHH JJ'S SNAPCHAT WAS THE CUTEST THINGGGGG *heart eyes***_

 _ **pettywagfan: seriously, where can I get a Will? Or where can I become JJ?**_

 _ **abbz_98: JJ was so different on her SC, so relaxed and happy, i love it**_

 _ **bopbopbop: confirmed – JJ is cray, but we love it**_

 _ **krhuger: is it normal to fangirl over a gymnast and her boyfriend bc they are seriously adorable**_


	67. Chapter 67

**A/N: Just a forewarning that the story gets pretty intense from here on out.**

* * *

Camp after camp passed. All too easily, JJ had fallen back into the almost monotonous pattern of training that she relished. The only thing that had been different had occurred in mid May; an impromptu trip to Boston with Will to celebrate Aly's 21st. A whirlwind weekend free of gym and filled with fun had been just what the two veterans of Team USA had needed.

Now, she was back feeling much more refreshed, and having finished her Saturday training session, had decided to spend some time at the mall with her mom.

"That would make Will's day," Sandy said teasingly, pointing to a mannequin in the window of a lingerie shop as they passed it.

"Thanks for the tip Mom," JJ replied dryly, making Sandy laugh. "You'd be horrified if I went and actually bought it"

"I'd turn a blind eye," Sandy said simply. JJ grinned, shaking her head.

"How's Will liking the new apartment? Is he settled in a bit better now?" her mother asked as they stopped outside a clothing store to have a look at the sales racks at the front. Somewhere in the store, some sort of incense was burning, and to JJ at least, it was incredibly strong.

"Yeah, he's much more at home now. It's funny, because he's an amazing cook, but he cannot do laundry to save his life," JJ said. "He put a white dress shirt in with his colours the other day without even thinking about it and now the shirt is the ugliest shade of pink I've ever seen"

Laughing, Sandy shook her head, moving over to the next rack.

"Other than that though, he's surviving," JJ said. "Mom, I'm gonna go wait outside. This incense is giving me a headache"

Sandy nodded, waving her off as she turned and headed back out into the corridor. Taking a breath of the clearer air, she walked over to a bench near the fountain that sat in the middle of the open area, sitting down with her phone in her hand and her bags at her side.

Keeping her phone clutched in her hand, she watched the activity of the mall rushing around her. She watched on as people went about their business, trying to guess what everyone was doing.

The lady who was rushing from store to store in a panic, muttering frantically to herself as she walked had almost certainly forgotten an important date; a birthday, an anniversary, something of the sort. JJ grimaced, hoping the lady would find something to suffice whatever she had forgotten.

Another woman walked past, dragging two highly spirited children by either hand. How she was going to achieve any shopping, JJ had no idea.

Just behind the woman was a tall, lean man who was walking with a little girl who appeared to be his daughter. She was cute as a button, dressed in a floral print summer dress with a cardigan and ballet flats to complete the look. She was talking animatedly, waving her hands around as her father chuckled. They weren't in any rush, and seemed to be talking rather generally. To JJ, it looked like they were having a father/daughter day, and it made her heart swell. She could remember her dad doing many similar things when she was younger, and she hoped the little girl would grow to have the same wonderful relationship with her dad that JJ had always been lucky enough to have.

She was so busy watching the little girl and her father that she was almost tuned out to the rest of the world. Moments later though, a flash of blonde amongst the crowds caught her eye.

She turned to see a young woman darting through the throngs of happy shoppers, clearly in a hurry like the lady who'd forgotten an event. She was pretty, with blonde hair and pale skin, but a fierce demeanour about her. But it wasn't her demeanour that made JJ do a double take.

For a moment, she had sworn the young woman was her deceased sister. The golden hair, the irate fierceness...

"Mommy!"

The excited gasp off to her left pulled her out of the reverie she'd been sinking into. She turned her head to see a little girl, probably no older than eight or nine, gesturing excitedly towards JJ as her mother begged her not to point.

"We shouldn't bother her Lucy, it's the weekend and she's probably busy," she heard the mother say.

"Can I please just say hello?" Lucy asked in an excited whisper. Her mother sighed, looking up and realising for the first time that JJ had noticed them.

Catching Lucy's eye, JJ smiled, beckoning her over to show that she didn't mind spending a few minutes with them. Lucy's mother broke into a smile, gently prodding her daughter towards JJ.

"Hi," JJ said, her smile growing as they approached.

"Hi," Lucy said shyly, half hiding behind her mother, suddenly very quiet now that she was actually speaking to JJ. "Are you Jennifer Jareau?"

JJ chuckled. "I am. What's your name?"

"Lucy," Lucy replied.

"Do you want to sit down?" JJ asked, giving Lucy a warm smile as she patted the empty spot beside her. Lucy nodded, slowly walking over and sitting down beside JJ. Her excitement was shining through in her expression, and JJ's heart was swelling.

"Do you do gymnastics?"

"Uh huh," Lucy said with a nod. "I'm a level 6"

"Wow, that's pretty cool. Which gym do you train at?"

"Northern Stars Gymnastics," Lucy replied, her voice starting to grow.

"Oh, I've heard of them. The coaches there are very good, you're in good hands," JJ said with a smile. "What's your favourite event?"

"I like bars. I feel like I'm flying," Lucy said happily. JJ chuckled.

"I don't really like bars. I tend to fall off them a lot at big competitions," she said lightly. Lucy giggled.

"I saw your bars at Worlds in the all-around, and when you fell, I was like 'oh man, why did you fall JJ!'"

JJ laughed. "That's almost exactly what I said to myself too"

"I like your beam routine though. Beam scares me, but one day I want to do beam like you," she said. "You never fall"

JJ shook her head, giving her a comforting smile. "Don't let it scare you. If you fall, at worst, you'll just get a big bruise. And you won't believe this, but I fall off beam a lot in practice. This morning, I fell on my coach!"

Lucy and her mother laughed, Lucy's face lighting up at the knowledge that her idol wasn't always perfect either.

"Can I ask you something?" Lucy said suddenly. JJ nodded.

"What are the Olympics like?"

Looking at the little girl beside her, JJ broke into a happy smile.

"They're amazing. If you're willing to work very hard and not give up, the Olympics are one of the best experiences you can have," she said honestly. "It's not easy to get there, but it's not impossible"

Lucy beamed, looking excitedly between her mother and JJ.

"Would it be alright if I got a photo of you two?" Lucy's mother asked unsurely.

"Of course," JJ replied happily. Lucy's mother relaxed into a smile, lifting her phone up as JJ put her arm around the excited little girl beside her. A few clicks later, and Lucy's mother tucked her phone away, holding her hand out to her daughter.

"Come on my girl, we've got lots to do, I think we've taken up enough of JJ's time today," she said softly.

"Thank you for talking to me," Lucy said sweetly as she hopped off the seat.

"The pleasure is all mine Lucy," JJ replied, holding out an arm towards the little girl. "Give me a hug"

Lucy giggled, leaning in for a quick squeeze, before bidding goodbye to JJ and waving as she practically skipped away at her mother's side.

Still smiling, JJ looked up, noticing her mother walking towards her with a smile on her face.

"You just made that kid's entire life," she chuckled. "I remember someone else passing a bookstore at about the same age and seeing Shannon Miller inside... you just about passed out, you were so starstruck"

"I remember that!" JJ laughed as she got to her feet and fell into step beside her mother. "She was so nice though!"

"She was lovely," Sandy agreed.

"That little girl was so cute," JJ said as they headed back towards the entrance.

"Well, I'm sure she'll be very inspired come her next practice," Sandy said. "She looked so excited as they walked away"

All JJ could do was continue to smile. Very rarely did she get to interact directly with her fans, and little Lucy had been a humble reminder of just how much something so little could mean to them.

* * *

 _Rubbing her eyes, she walked across the hallway towards the bathroom she shared with her sister. The sun was barely up, but there was no point going back to sleep; her mom would be shaking her awake in half an hour for training anyway._

 _Reaching out, she closed her hand around the doorknob and turned it. The door swung open, and yawning, she stepped into the bathroom, her head down as she rubbed her eyes._

 _Finally pulling her hand away from her eyes, she blinked in an attempt to clear the fog from her vision._

 _It was then that she noticed the pool of blood that covered the bathroom floor, mere millimetres from her toes._

 _She nearly screamed, but her eyes were already following the blood across the bathroom to the shower tub. The curtain was closed, but just beneath the hem, she could see a pale hand, slick with blood._

 _Without even thinking, she leapt forward, wrenching back the curtain to expose whoever was behind it._

 _And then she screamed._

Gasping, JJ bolted upright from her sleep, her hands shaking and her skin slick with sweat. Will was still fast asleep beside her, and for a split second, she was glad she hadn't woken him up.

Her heart was pounding, but her stomach was churning and her chest was tightening. She knew what that meant.

Throwing back the covers, she leapt out of the bed and raced into the bathroom, making it to the toilet just in time to throw up the contents of her stomach. She coughed and gagged until there was nothing left to bring up, her shaking body resting heavily on the porcelain for support.

She'd been avoiding it for months. Ignoring every picture frame, every memory, everything that reminded her of her. And now, it seemed her mind had decided to come charging back against her.

Standing up, she flushed the toilet, moving shakily over to the sink to rinse her mouth. She was now fully aware of the fact that all her clothes were damp with sweat. Some nightmare.

Once she had rinsed out the acrid taste of vomit from her mouth, she turned off the faucet, placing her hands either side of the sink and leaning heavily against it.

"Hey," came Will's soft voice from the bathroom door. "You ok? Thought I heard you throwin' up"

JJ said nothing, her fingers gripping the edges of the sink as she fought for her composure.

"Babe," Will breathed, taking a step closer. "JJ..."

His quiet concern was all it took for JJ to break. All the tension left her muscles as the dam walls broke and the tears came pouring down her cheeks. She slowly turned around to face Will, one hand over her mouth as she tried to control her sobs, but to no avail.

"Come here," Will said softly, crossing the room and pulling her into his arms. "Come here, I got you"

JJ completely let go, clutching at Will as her legs went weak beneath her. Somehow, they both ended up sitting on the bathroom floor, Will holding JJ as she cried more tears than he'd ever seen from her before.

"You're ok... I've got you," he whispered, rubbing her back in small, comforting circles. He ignored the fact that she was drenched with sweat, ignored the fact that her nose was running into the shoulder of his shirt, that she was crying so hard he could feel her tears against his skin; all he cared about right then was whether she was ok.

It was quite some time before she calmed herself down enough to let go of him, her eyes red and puffy, her skin pale.

"Sorry," she sniffed, wiping her nose on the sleeve of her sweatshirt, tears still dripping down her cheeks.

"Don't apologise," Will said quickly, reaching out and tipping her chin up. Cupping her cheek in the same hand, he gently lifted his thumb to wipe away the tears still tracking down her face. "What happened? I've never seen you that upset... ever"

Turning her head towards the window, JJ avoided his eye contact, still taking deep breaths in an attempt to regulate her breathing again.

"Is this about gymnastics?" Will asked softly.

"I thought... it was," JJ stammered, her shoulders slumping as she buried her face in her hands. "I was wrong"

Not knowing what to say next, Will reached over to his laundry hamper, pulling out the shirt he'd had on the previous day. Pressing it into JJ's hand, he reached up and tucked a loose strand of her hair out of her eyes.

"Change out of those clothes," he said, slowly getting up and helping JJ to her feet. "I'll wait out there"

On account of her shaking hands, it took her longer than usual to strip off the leggings and sweatshirt she'd worn to bed the night before, but eventually, she was redressed in Will's t-shirt and walking back out into the bedroom.

She said nothing as she walked back around the bed, still sniffling as she sat back down on the mattress.

"You ok?" Will asked quietly, watching her closely.

"Yeah," JJ mumbled, wiping away a stray tear.

"Maybe you should talk about it," Will said softly.

"No, I don't want to," JJ replied, going to turn her back to him.

"JJ, I think-"

"Will, I don't want to-"

"Well, I think you should," Will said, reaching out and taking her hand. "I think you need to"

"I'm too tired, I don't feel well-"

"You don't feel well because you're stressing-"

Without warning, JJ burst into tears.

"Please don't make me talk about it Will, not right now, please," she sobbed, catching Will off guard once more.

"Ok," he breathed, dropping the subject immediately.

Pulling her into his arms, he managed to lay them both back down on the bed, pulling the blankets over the top of them as he did.

"Just get some rest," he whispered, kissing the top of JJ's head as she cuddled right up against him. "I love you"

He didn't get a reply, and he wasn't expecting one. It took some time, but eventually, JJ's sniffles gave way to deep, relaxed breathing.

And finally, he was able to rest.


	68. Chapter 68

**A/N: HAPPY BIRTHDAY ISA!**

* * *

Will had barely slept.

Shaken by JJ's unexplained breakdown in the middle of the night, and simultaneously trying to stay alert in case she woke up in a state again, he'd hardly managed more than a twenty minute catnap at best.

When the first light of the sun began to show across the sky outside his window, he gave in, carefully pulling himself out of the bed so as not to wake JJ, and heading out into the main living area.

The first thing he did was start brewing a jug of coffee on the machine in the corner of the kitchen. Once the machine was set, he retreated to the couch, flopping back onto it as he dragged a tired hand down his face.

He was so tired that, despite the fact his mind was going a million miles a minute, exhaustion soon got the better of him. As soon as his eyes drifted closed, he was asleep.

* * *

"Will"

He jerked awake at the sound of his name, turning his head immediately as he rubbed his eyes. Standing on the other side of the coffee table was JJ, looking extremely pale, her eyes shadowed by the dark circles that had seemingly developed overnight.

"Hey," he mumbled, pulling himself up so he was sitting. "How'd you sleep?"

"Uh, fine, I guess... look, I think I'm gonna go home," JJ said quietly. "There's some stuff I need to do, and-"

"Wait, wait... you're gonna just up and leave after what happened last night?" Will clarified.

"I'm not talking about last night," JJ shot back darkly.

"No, maybe you don't want to, but maybe you _need_ to," Will pushed, starting to get a little frustrated. He knew JJ better than anyone, and he knew what she was like when things starting getting too tough; she would push it all down and refuse to deal with it unless she was forced to.

"Stop acting like I need a shrink," JJ huffed, turning on her heel and heading back for the bedroom. Will jumped up, following her at a quick pace.

"JJ, I'm not saying you need a shrink, I'm saying that avoiding this is not healthy. You were up in the middle of the night, vomiting, drenched head to toe in sweat, from what, a nightmare?" he exclaimed, his voice starting to rise.

"I didn't feel well before I fell asleep," JJ replied as she started searching for her clothes.

"You had a complete meltdown on that bathroom floor last night!" Will cried. "JJ... I don't get you sometimes, ok? I love you but my god, you frustrate the shit out of me sometimes. You're hurting, JJ, you have been all year, and I want to help you, but I don't know how because you won't help me to! You were so close to telling me what's going on with you last night, but now you're sealed up tighter than Fort Knox, and ugh, JJ, I don't think you understand how frustrating this it!"

Slamming her phone down on the bedside table, JJ whirled around, tears in her eyes again.

"You think you're frustrated? You think you're angry? Try having your mind wage a ten year battle with itself, try doing what I do everyday while dealing with all this _shit_... you don't understand, and you're never going to!"

Taken aback by JJ's harsh reply, Will frowned.

Ten years... but that meant...

"JJ... is this about Roz?" he asked quietly.

The reaction was almost instantaneous. Giving up, JJ slumped onto the edge of Will's bed, tears dripping down onto the front of her sweater as the full weight of what she was going through slowly began to dawn on Will.

"It's ten years, isn't it? Next week," he said softly, tentatively sitting down beside her. Burying her face in her hands, JJ nodded as heavy sobs escaped her body, shaking her shoulders from the effort of trying to stifle them.

"I get it, ok... anniversaries are hard. They suck, because it's just another reminder that they aren't there-"

"I was the one who found her Will," JJ sobbed, lifting her face to look directly at him. "I was the one who found her dead in the bathtub at six in the morning with her wrists slashed open and her blood all over the floor"

Will looked stunned to say the least. JJ was one of the strongest girls he'd ever known, one of the strongest _people_... and she'd been carrying this dark secret for ten years.

"JJ, you never told me that," he breathed, reaching out and gently taking her hands.

"I've never told anyone," JJ said through her tears, dropping her gaze and avoiding Will's eye contact. "Only my parents and my brother know"

Will didn't know what to say. He had always known about Rosaline's death, having been close to the Jareau family growing up. But this... this dark secret... he couldn't fathom how JJ had been holding onto it for ten years and wasn't falling apart at the seams because of it.

"I was so angry at her," JJ choked out, breaking the momentary silence. "I hated her for years... I couldn't sleep for weeks afterwards. I'd wake up screaming every night. I ended up sleeping in my parents' room with my mom for a couple of months so I would feel safe. But I didn't feel safe... I just felt broken, and scared, and... betrayed"

"You were ten years old," Will reminded her, his voice barely above a whisper. "Something like that would traumatise a grown adult, JJ... you were just a child"

"I can't get it out of my head," JJ sobbed. "That's what happened last night... I had a dream... a nightmare, about finding her. I haven't had one since I was eleven... but she's there in my head, every day"

"Did your parents ever get you counselling?" Will asked. JJ nodded.

"I saw a grief counsellor for a year... nothing since then," she said tearfully, wiping her nose on her sleeve as Will put an arm around her shoulders and pulled her close.

"You shouldn't keep things like this to yourself," he said softly. "It just eats you up inside... and you of all people need your mental game in check"

"Do you think she's proud of me?" JJ asked quietly, turning to look at Will with watery blue eyes.

Smiling, Will kissed her cheek, kissing away a stray tear.

"Every day"

* * *

 _ **JJ's been a bit... funny, on social media lately. Not her usual self. Is everything ok with her?**_

 _I can't really say for sure. I'm not a mind reader, and I don't monitor the girls 24/7. What I will say, however, is that I've noticed this happens around this time every year (usually not this noticeably though). I could be totally wrong, so don't take my word as gospel for this, BUT, I'm pretty sure I remember JJ saying something a few years ago about having a sister who passed away, so like... maybe this is around the time it happened? As someone who lost someone close to me at a younger age, anniversaries can be really hard, and I'm wondering if that's the reason we see a shift in JJ's personality around this time of year. She's not invincible, as awesome as she is, and as sad as it is that she's clearly going through some stuff, she always bounces back._

 _ **Do you think there's anything JJ needs to work on to remain in contention for an Olympic spot next year?**_

 _Um... not really. Haha. Just consistency. She's been tremendous with her DTY on vault, and she's never majorly missed a beam routine to date, and her floor is usually pretty good, but it's bars and the big beam errors she needs to work on. Obviously its early in the season, so she could come out at Worlds and be like 'hey guys, I've had it together for ages' and absolutely SLAY, which wouldn't surprise me, but yeah... if she wants to go to Rio, other than staying healthy, she's just got to hammer out the minor issues across her events, and get her new upgrades consistent._

 _ **What do the gymnasts do with their Olympic medals? I'd be locking mine away somewhere safe!**_

 _So would I, if only because I'd knock them over and drop them and the like. Someone actually asked all the most recent Olympic girls this, and I'm pretty sure all five of them have them out on display, which, you know, they're Olympic medals, they should be super proud of them! Compare that to Shannon Miller who keeps hers in a safe, but to be fair, Shannon has two small children running her world right now. I know for sure JJ displays hers, if only because Aly said in a recent interview that if JJ keeps winning at her current rate, her display shelf is "going to tip over" haha._

* * *

After opening her heart to Will, JJ had spent the rest of the afternoon feeling incredibly vulnerable. They'd spent the afternoon cuddled on the couch watching Netflix, before JJ had left in near silence to go home in the evening.

She'd walked through the front door and dropped her bag at her feet. Her parents were in the lounge room right by the front door, laughing at something on the TV. She was glad they were laughing. One of the worst days of the year for them was coming up… laughter was always the best medicine.

"Hey sweetie. Your mom and I are about to start dinner if you're hungry," Michael called out once he noticed JJ standing in the entryway.

Emotionally battered from the last 24 hours, all JJ could do was break down in tears yet again, too exhausted to keep up a brave front.

Stunned, both Michael and Sandy leapt up from their seats, approaching her quickly but calmly.

"What's the matter? Did something happen with you and Will?" Sandy asked as Michael went to his daughter's side and put a comforting arm around her shoulders.

"No… I keep… I keep thinking about Roz," JJ said tearfully. "I've started having the nightmares again"

Her heart tugging painfully, Sandy swallowed thickly, reaching out and pulling JJ into a tight hug as Michael wrapped his arms around both of them.

It was painful. It hurt, every day.

But they were all stronger than the pain. And get through it again, they would.

Together.


	69. Chapter 69

**A/N: Yay for more!**

* * *

 _Screams had filled the early morning air so suddenly that everyone in the house had bolted awake._

 _Michael and Sandy leapt out of bed, recognising the screams as those of their youngest child. They raced towards the sound of the screaming, only to find JJ collapsed in a pool of blood on the bathroom floor, her Lion King pyjamas stained red as she screamed in fear._

 _When his eyes fell on his oldest daughter lying motionless in the bathtub, deep gashes in her wrists, Michael had fallen to his knees beside the tub as his now sobbing wife dragged their nearly hysterical daughter from the bathroom kicking and screaming. By this time, Jason had joined the ruckus, the colour draining from his face as he watched his dad trying to lift his younger sister out of the bath._

" _I'll call 911," he gasped, turning on his heel and racing down the stairs towards the phone._

" _Rosie, what did you do?" Michael said tearfully as he kept a tight hold on his daughter. "What did you do?"_

 _Out on the landing, Sandy had her sobbing daughter cradled in her arms, desperately trying to calm her down before she went into shock. Her mind was reeling and her heart was breaking_

 _What on earth had gone so horribly wrong in her older daughter's world?_

* * *

 _ **What happened to JJ at Worlds in 2010? Is that when she had the shoulder injury? How did she still get a team medal?**_

 _Yes. Basically what happened was the US team came out in qualifications and they were first up on vault. JJ was their first vaulter, and when she actually went... I'm not sure exactly what happened, whether she hit the table at a funny angle or missed her block or something, but when she went over the table, her shoulder dislocated as she blocked. As you would naturally do if one of your joints was completely displaced, she bailed midair and came down on the crash mat on her back (she was incredibly lucky to land the way she did, a few centimetres either way and she would've either landed on her head or clipped her feet on the back end of the table). She was checked over and taken out of the arena to have her shoulder put back in at the hospital, but Marta kept her on the roster because it was decided the team would survive with five members. JJ was actually on the floor in the team final, leotard and all, but she was in a sling and couldn't have competed even if they'd needed her to, and so she was right there and able to go out and accept her team silver. She definitely deserved it after all that; she was so excited to be at Worlds, and there she was not able to compete at all, but she was still cheering on the other girls and offering support. As it turned out, that experience would be invaluable for both her and Aly Raisman the following year when Alicia Sacramone went down with an Achilles rupture before qualifications at the 2011 World Championships._

 _ **Do you think JJ could have won the beam final in 2010 if she had been able to compete?**_

 _She was definitely the one with the clearest chance for gold heading into Worlds. Although, in 2010, she was definitely very reserved and a little unsure, and that pressure might have gotten to her in the final. Even though it sucks she couldn't compete that year, I think it shaped her into the competitor she's been since 2011. But we can't say for sure; anything can happen in gymnastics, and what happened was she got injured and couldn't compete._

 _ **JJ declined her American Cup spot, do we know why?**_

 _Sorry I didn't answer this before the American Cup! She declined because she was working new upgrades and decided she'd rather open her season at a small meet in case she had issues (which she inevitably did), rather than have it in front of an American crowd with a bunch of press and have them ream her out for any potential mistakes._

 _ **Can anyone beat JJ on beam next year in Rio?**_

 _Well, provided she survives that long and makes the team, I'll say a tentative no. She's just so consistent on beam that at this point, the only way anyone can beat her is to like... sabotage her before the competition._

 _ **Are Aly and JJ as good friends as they seem to be?**_

 _Aly's family spent Christmas with JJ's family, so I'd say yes. And Aly seems to have gotten really friendly with JJ's boyfriend as well, so I'd imagine the three of them spend a lot of time together when they can. Also, JJ and her boyfriend went to Boston for Aly's 21st, judging from their social media, so yes, they definitely are very good friends._

* * *

When he heard the loud thwack of a body hitting a crash mat, Nick didn't even have to turn around to know JJ had missed the landing on her Amanar.

Hearing her defeated groan as she hauled herself up out of the pit, he turned his attention away from Kate and Clem, who were standing at the other end of the runway, and watched as JJ got herself back to her feet.

"I didn't have to see that to know it wasn't good," he said calmly as she walked towards him.

Giving him a noncommittal shrug of the shoulders, she sat down on the edge of the tumbling trampoline to adjust her wrist guards.

"Kate, Clem, I want you both to do fifty jumps to handstand, springboard to the table. Open shoulders, block position," Nick instructed the two younger girls. They both nodded, hurrying off to do as their coach had asked.

"What's going on with you today? You're not quite your usual self," Nick said softly once Kate and Clem were out of earshot, turning to face JJ.

"Today... today's the day Rosaline died," JJ replied quietly, avoiding her coach's gaze.

"Are you handling that ok?" Nick asked, knowing JJ hated being given sympathy and being fussed over.

"As well as I can, I guess," she replied briskly. "It sucks, but I'll survive"

"JJ, if you need a break day-"

"I'm fine," JJ insisted. "Really. I don't need a break. I just want to train"

Nick hesitated for a moment before nodding. "Ok. You know yourself and what your limits are"

Nodding, JJ stood up again, swinging her arms around to loosen her shoulders as she gave Nick the best reassuring smile she could muster.

"I'll be ok," she promised him softly, before turning towards the empty vaulting track and heading over to the starting position.

As he stood there watching her work tirelessly on her vault, Nick had to smile.

She was right. He knew, no matter what, she would be fine.

* * *

Despite being exhausted from training, another nightmare had pulled JJ from her sleep in the dark and early hours of the following morning.

Not wanting to just roll over and go back to sleep, she instead pulled herself out of bed, walking as quietly as possible out of her room and down the stairs to the kitchen.

She was surprised to find her dad already (or still) awake, sitting at the table with a cup of what looked like green tea, the previous day's newspaper open in front of him.

"Hey... what are you doing up?" Michael asked as she walked in.

"Nightmare," JJ admitted, pulling out the chair nearest to her and sitting down. "You?"

"Not feeling too crash hot," Michael replied. "Thought a cup of tea might help"

Silence fell between them. JJ avoided looking directly at her father, choosing to study the grain of the table under her hands instead.

Watching his daughter closely, Michael took another sip of his tea, before setting it down and turning towards her.

"What happened to Roz is really coming back to haunt you, isn't it?" he asked softly.

Lifting her eyes to look at her father, JJ took a deep breath, nodding.

"She's always in my head lately... it's scaring me... I feel so... not miserable, but just kind of down, all the time... and I know that's not me, I know that's not how I am... it's because of this... because of Roz," she said, all her feelings suddenly tumbling out into the open.

"Have you thought about seeing a counsellor again?" Michael suggested.

"Yeah," JJ nodded. "I don't think it's a bad idea... I just wish it wasn't needed"

"You experienced a huge trauma at a very young and tender age, JJ... whether you like it or not, I think it's always going to creep back up on you when you least expect it. I think the only way to make peace with it is not just to see a counsellor... but also to just accept that it's part of your life, it's part of who you are, and it's not really ever going to go away," Michael explained. "You're strong enough to get through it, but it's always going to be difficult"

Nodding in understanding, JJ gave her dad a tired smile.

"Thanks Dad," she said softly.

"For what?"

"Listening. Understanding. Not judging," JJ replied.

Michael gave her the same tired smile, his face suddenly quite pale in the dull light of the kitchen.

"We're all fighting the same demons, peanut. We understand each other like no-one can. Believe me"


	70. Chapter 70

**A/N: This one's a fun one!**

* * *

The week following the anniversary of her sister's death had seen JJ adding a weekly visit to a counsellor into her already busy schedule. She'd attended one session so far, and already, Will and her parents had visibly seen a weight lift from her shoulders.

It was now the weekend before her 21st birthday, and Aly had come down from Boston with her mother to help celebrate. Seeing as the two girls would be in Chicago for the US Classic on the actual weekend of JJ's birthday, it was decided they would have to celebrate the week before. With a lot to do before all her family and friends arrived, Lynn had taken Aly and JJ out to the local mall, while Will helped Sandy in the kitchen, and Jason and Michael took to setting up the backyard.

"Where would you like this?" Will asked as he picked up a bowl of salad they had finished preparing.

"Wherever you can make space in the refrigerator," Sandy chuckled, loading a few of their used dishes into the dishwasher. "Michael will need that roast out shortly anyway, so you can take that out to make room"

Nodding, Will did as instructed, removing the large cut of roast meat and putting the bowl of salad in its place.

Turning around once he'd closed the refrigerator once more, he stood for a moment, watching as Sandy rinsed dishes beneath the tap.

He had so many questions burning into his brain, but he was also terrified of overstepping boundaries. JJ's parents were nothing but welcoming to him, making him feel completely comfortable in their home... and he didn't want that to change.

"Sandy... can I ask you something?" he asked quietly, moving closer to the counter and resting his hands on the freshly cleaned surface.

Turning to look over her shoulder, a flicker of curiosity crossed Sandy's face. Reaching out, she shut off the faucet, setting the dish in the drainer before turning her whole body around to face her daughter's boyfriend.

"Of course," she replied, a gentle warmth in her voice that instantly made Will feel all the more relaxed.

"You and Michael... you've noticed lately that JJ's having a rough time, haven't you?" Will asked.

Sighing, Sandy nodded, setting her dish towel down on the counter beside her. "We have. It's been quite up and down in this house... for all of us, not just for her"

"Do you think she's going to be alright?"

Sandy nodded again, folding her arms across her chest. "I do. She's a lot stronger than most people give her credit for. If she wasn't, she wouldn't be where she is today in any regard. This sort of thing happens to some degree every year, but this year has definitely been the worst. She will be alright, she will come through it, but it's just going to take time"

"That night she stayed at my place... it scared me," Will admitted. "There she was, in the middle of the night, throwing up, crying more than I've ever seen her cry before... I've never seen her like that... ever. And it really freaked me out"

"And I understand why it would," Sandy said. "Michael and I are no stranger to that... it's been a very long time since she's been that rattled, but the weeks after Rosaline died... that was our night, every single night. And you know something Will? No matter how many medals JJ wins, how many podiums I see her standing on... every time she's up there with another result, I don't see the incredible gymnast who's worked so hard to be where she is today. I still see the little girl who woke up every night screaming and crying, the little girl who lost what was left of her childhood when she was ten years old"

Sadness had crossed into Sandy's eyes, and Will was suddenly overcome with a sense of sadness; JJ had been through what sounded like hell and back... her midnight breakdown was starting to make more sense.

"The loss she's experienced is always going to be part of who she is. It's a testament to how strong of a person she is," Sandy added quietly. "It'll always be there, every year... but she's going to be fine. I know she is, because what she's been through has shaped her into who she is now. She's got a heart the size of Canada, and she loves fiercely and without abandon"

Will smiled; JJ's heart knew no limits. She cared so deeply for everyone in her life, it was admirable.

"Just promise me something Will," Sandy said, breaking Will from his thought. "Keep an eye on her. Look after her. If you're concerned about her, please tell us. And please... I don't think you ever would, but please don't add to the hurt she's already experienced"

"I love her too much to hurt her," Will replied. "You have my word"

Sandy broke into a smile, stepping forward and beckoning Will into a hug. He accepted the embrace, before stepping back and smiling at his girlfriend's mother.

He would do everything in his power to make sure the darkness from JJ's past never became her future.

* * *

"Can I have everyone's attention?" Michael called out over their now filled backyard.

The celebrations so far had gone off without a hitch. JJ's family and closest friends were all happily together in one place to celebrate her upcoming milestone, and JJ had been showered in affection and love from all of her relatives, most of whom she very rarely saw.

Now it was time to deliver a kind sentiment, and Michael was more than prepared to tackle the task.

"If I could just steal your attention for five minutes," Michael said with a smile as the noise died down. Lifting an arm, he gestured to JJ to join him. She did so, smiling as she leaned into his side, her mother joining them at her other side.

"Thank you all so much for coming tonight and helping us celebrate our baby girl's twenty first birthday... I know it's not until next weekend, but, you know, elite gymnastics can often interrupt one's schedule," Michael said with a chuckle. "Sandy and I can't quite believe we're here today, celebrating our youngest's twenty first, I mean... it feels like just yesterday we were bringing her home from the hospital! It's all gone so fast, but it's been an incredible twenty one years, that's for sure"

Looking down at JJ momentarily, he smiled, before looking back up towards their family.

"We're so proud of JJ, for everything she's achieved in her life... I mean, how many people can say their daughter is the most decorated gymnast in America? Although... I think she's had a little bit to drink tonight, so I don't think we'll be getting a beam encore"

Laughter filtered around the space as JJ blushed, a huge grin crossing her face as her dad squeezed her shoulders.

"It's been an incredible privilege to watch her work hard to achieve her goals and ascend to the highest heights her sport has to offer, and we're just as proud of each achievement that comes as we were of the last. But not only that... she has grown and matured into an incredible young woman who we are proud to call our daughter"

Turning and looking down at JJ, Michael smiled. "JJ, honey, you've become such an amazing young woman... your determination and passion for everything you do just blows me and your mother away. We are so proud of you, every day... don't ever change, and don't ever give up. We love you endlessly... happy birthday sweetheart"

As he pulled her into a hug amidst applause and few drunken cheers from her uncle, JJ had tears in her eyes. She was beaming through them, even as she pulled away and turned to be wrapped in another tight hug from her mom.

As lowkey as it was, it was special. She couldn't have asked for more.

* * *

"JJ, you're really workin' against me here"

It was past midnight, and quite a few people still remained, happily drinking and partying the night away down in the backyard. Will and Aly on the other hand, were working very hard to get JJ upstairs and into bed; the hours following her father's speech had seen her level of drunkenness increase, to the point where she had knocked over a small bar table, spilled her drink, and collapsed against Will in a heap of infectious giggles.

Switching on the light as Will half carried JJ into the room, Aly moved over to the bed and pulled the covers down.

"Woah," JJ giggled as she stumbled over her own feet, grabbing at Will for purchase.

"Ok, you need to lie down," Will chuckled, easily laying her down on her mattress and reaching down to pull her shoes off.

But before he could even touch her shoes, JJ had grabbed him by his shirt and pulled him back up towards her, pressing a deep kiss to his lips as Aly giggled on the other side of the bed.

When her fingers started drunkenly trying to undo the buttons on his shirt, Will pulled away.

"JJ, no, you're the one who's meant to be getting undressed, not me," he reminded her.

Starting to giggle uncontrollably, JJ grabbed him again, pulling him down on top of her as her fingers fumbled against the buttons.

"JJ... JJ stop," Will chuckled, gently guiding her hands away from his clothing as Aly laughed again while searching JJ's drawers for a shirt for her to sleep in. "I'm not having sex with you tonight"

"Why not?" JJ pouted, her lower lip sticking out impressively.

"Because you're drunker than a sailor at Mardi Gras, and Aly's here as well, it's not right," Will said.

"Aly won't mind," JJ whispered loudly.

"Aly will mind," Aly whispered back just as loudly. "Aly will mind a lot"

Unable to suppress his laughter, Will pulled JJ up so she was sitting, before helping her out of the dress she'd worn that evening. It took both him and Aly to get her into one of his old T-shirts, but before long, she was passed out beneath the covers with the promise of a pounding headache come morning.

Exhaling heavily, Will looked over at Aly. When they caught each other's eye, all they could do was laugh.

Jennifer Jareau and alcohol proved to be a very entertaining mix.


	71. Chapter 71

**A/N: Competition ones are fun!**

* * *

" _I know this has been a really tough month for you, JJ. There's actually something I wanted to ask you in regards to that, but I want you to understand that you can say no"_

"Ok," JJ said softly. She was talking to her agent, Lucy, who had called to wish her a happy birthday and also to check in before training for the Classic got underway. Bit by bit, the heartache she'd been dealing with had slowly come out, and to her, it seemed like Lucy had, to some degree, already known.

" _There's an organisation called Blackbird that helps families who've had loved ones commit suicide. I've been talking with them over the past couple of weeks, and they wanted to know if you would be willing to be an ambassador for them, and share your family's story"_

JJ hesitated. She'd always been an incredibly private person... publically sharing what she and her family had been through with her sister's death would be one of the hardest things she had ever done.

" _You'd be able to help others see that they're not alone... that even after a tragedy like that, life does go on"_

"I'll think about it," JJ said quietly.

" _Ok. Let me know by the end of next week. Maybe it's something you should chat to your parents about as well"_

"I will," JJ replied.

She really wasn't sure if she wanted to do it. But she was more than willing to consider it.

* * *

" _Sitting on the shores of Lake Michigan, Chicago, Illinois in the summer is one of the most festive places in the country. But today, we're gonna hop on I-90, take a short stop straight west to a place called Hoffman Estates and the Sears Centre, where today the greatest gymnasts in the country have gathered for the Secret US Classic, as they continue their road to Rio here on Universal Sports. Welcome everyone, I'm John Roethlisberger here with Olympic Champions Amanda Borden and Tim Daggett, great to be back with you guys again. You know, a year ago at this competition, the field, it was a little bit sparse, but Tim here we are, a year closer to the Olympic Games and it's a little more crowded! And one reason is the return of Aly Raisman, and Gabby Douglas. Let's start with Gabby Douglas. What can we realistically expect from the defending Olympic all-around champion?"_

" _Well you know John, I think that going back to back in the Olympic Games in a sport like women's gymnastics... one of the toughest things you can do in sport. In 2012, Nastia Liukin, Shawn Johnson, Alicia Sacramone tried to go back. They couldn't do it! It's a tall order"_

" _Well regardless, I'm sure the fans out there will love to see her back in a leotard. On the other side of the comeback, Aly Raisman, now Amanda, she got back in the gym a little earlier than Gabby Douglas. Once the dust settles on this competition, what are we gonna be saying about the comeback of Aly Raisman?"_

" _John, she is in incredible shape, and her gymnastics is as good as it was back in 2012. Now, she has a new sense of motivation to have another shot at the Olympic Games and you can see it in her eyes"_

" _There'll be a lot of eyes on another young gymnast, Simone Biles, the two time World Champion. She's used to being the first person we talk about in the open, not the third person. Tim, what is this hype and attention on Aly and Gabby going to do to Simone Biles?"_

" _Absolutely nothing. She is absolutely the greatest gymnast on the planet right now. She might be the most dominant athlete the sport of gymnastics has ever seen in the all-around, it'll have no impact"_

" _Well there's gonna be a lot of drama and like the great LL Cool J once said 'Don't call it a comeback. They've been here for years'. They've been here for years, but America has not seen them since they won Olympic gold in 2012. Aly Raisman, Gabby Douglas, they're back, here at the Secret US Classic, live on Universal Sports"_

A week following her birthday celebrations (that had left her with an unfortunate hangover), JJ was on the floor at the Sears Centre in Chicago, Illinois, ready to open up her 2015 season at the US Classic.

She was in the same rotation as Simone, starting on beam. She would be at the end of the rotation, the last beam worker before they moved to floor. There was only one girl left to go on the apparatus before it would be her turn, and she was feeling more ready than ever.

As the last girl went up to compete, JJ stayed on the sidelines, calmly going through the motions of her routine, working to block out the noise and craziness around her.

Before too long, she was up by the beam, waiting for her green flag. She was still perfectly calm, relaxed, yet excited to perform for the first time all season in front of an American crowd, on her favourite event.

" _JJ has upgraded her beam again, this time I think it's even HARDER than it was at the Olympics, so it'll be interesting to see how she goes"_

The flag went up, and she saluted. A deep breath, and then she took off for her mount.

She flipped and landed it so solidly on the end of the beam that she had to bite back a smile. Off to a good start.

Section of choreography... standing Arabian. Not even a wobble.

Onodi... front aerial... front aerial. Tiny flicker at the end. The judges might not have even noticed it.

A little more choreo, straight into a front tuck to wolf jump. The connection she'd missed in Jesolo was nailed without concern this time around. A little more choreo.

Another deep breath, before swinging back into her series. Backflip, backflip, layout full. The second she'd landed it on the beam, the crowd went nuts, filling her with a little more adrenaline, a little more confidence.

Switch split... switch half. Full turn.

Just the dismount to go.

As the bell went to signal she only had ten seconds left, she swung down into her dismount series.

Flip... flip... full twisting double tuck.

Only a slight shuffle of her feet on the landing meant she was beaming from ear to ear as she saluted the judges.

" _WOW!"_

" _That was incredible. No wonder she's a three time World Champion on this event!"_

"Nice job kiddo!" Nick gushed, clearly impressed as he high fived JJ on her way down the stairs, before pulling her into a hug. "That was _good_!"

JJ could only grin, before being swarmed with hugs from the other girls.

Beam queen was back in business.

* * *

As JJ stood waiting to go on floor, Michael rose from his seat between Will and Sandy, starting to head out into the aisle.

"Where are you going?" Sandy asked.

"Bathroom," he said shortly, finding his way out onto the stairs and beginning to head back up to the corridor. He really didn't want to miss JJ's floor, but the corndog he'd bought before the meet began was starting to disagree with him something terrible.

'I still saw that incredible beam routine,' he reasoned with himself as he found the nearest bathrooms and pushed open the door to the men's room.

Back in the stands, unbeknownst to herself, Emily Prentiss was sitting just a few rows up from JJ's family. Having closed their case a couple of days earlier than expected, the agents of the BAU had taken the opportunity to have two extra days in Chicago. Unsure what to do with her free time since all the guys had headed straight for the baseball games, Emily, with Garcia's help, had discovered the Secret Classic was taking place before their departure, and had made the decision to attend.

" _On floor for Romero's, Jennifer Jareau!"_

Cheering loudly for JJ as she took the floor, Emily sat forward in her seat; she was completely enraptured with the things she was seeing at her first live meet. Gymnastics was a thousand times more impressive in person.

The music began, and JJ, starting from the center of the floor, danced her way back towards the corner, lining herself up for her first tumbling run.

Avoiding lingering in the corner, she turned and ran immediately, hurdling into the roundoff flip with ease.

Punching high into the air, she clenched her hands; it was her little tick that helped her twist her tucks around properly.

But somewhere at the end of the first tuck, she realised she had no awareness of where she was in the air.

Trying to hold back on the twist and open out the tuck into a full in instead, she became aware of the fact that she was closer to the ground than she should've been.

With a loud thump, she crashed into the floor on her back, her head whipping back sharply as the crowd gasped loudly.

"Oh!" Sandy gasped, jumping instinctively from her seat. Beside her, Will had half risen from his seat, his jaw dropped in shock.

Somehow, JJ knew her feet had come in underneath her, nowhere near able to land, and she'd overrated the double tuck by a mile.

She immediately went to pull herself back to her feet, but as soon as she made to sit up, the arena began to spin and she started feeling nauseous. Lying back down, she covered her face with her hands, taking deep breaths as her music slowly died away.

Hurried footsteps were coming across the podium towards her; medical staff and Nick, no doubt.

"Are you alright?" came a deep, unfamiliar voice to her right. "Don't move around"

"Everything's spinning," she groaned.

Someone gently pried her hands away from her eyes, and when she looked up at them, she realised it was Nick.

"Keep your head nice and still," he said softly. "Your neck whipped back pretty hard, they'll need to clear your spine"

" _That didn't look good at all, hopefully she's alright"_

" _How on earth she managed to overrotate a double double is beyond me"_

" _It looked like she got lost in the air and just kind of... fell out of it"_

Fingers poked and prodded her neck as she lay there beneath the arena lights. The sudden dizziness had died down and she was able to refocus her vision on the high ceiling above her.

She obliged as they asked her to gently move her head from side to side, wiggle her toes, and flex her fingers. When it was apparent she wasn't in any pain and had full function of all her limbs, Nick and one of the medical volunteers carefully helped her up to her feet.

" _Jennifer Jareau of Romero's"_

As the announcement came, JJ got a loud supportive cheer from the crowd. She was keeping her head down, focusing on putting one foot in front of the other.

They took her to the nearest bank of chairs. Once she was seated, Nick left to grab her warm-ups from her bag, while the medical staff continued to check her over.

"You may have a minor concussion... it's probably safest if we send you to the hospital to get checked out," one of them was saying, but JJ wasn't really listening.

All she was thinking of in that moment was that she really needed to pull everything together if Marta was still going to trust her for Worlds.

* * *

 _ **Today's disaster on floor has resulted in a minor grade concussion that requires rest and observation for the next 24 hours, meaning alyraisman gets the fun job of waking me up every two hours tonight to make sure I'm still alive *laughing face*. Thank you for all the kind messages, I'm feeling a lot better already, and I'm just anxious to get to Nationals and prove that I CAN land that skill! I know it doesn't seem like it, but I really can, I promise! Looking forward to getting back in the gym when I get back to Pittsburgh and working harder than ever. Thank you again, and if you were hoping to see my all-around attempt today... I'm sorry *laughing face*.**_


	72. Chapter 72

**A/N: I know this could be better but I wanted to upload before I left!**

* * *

With JJ's concussion under close watch, the medical team had been reluctant to clear her to fly home. As luck would have it, however, Will had driven from Pittsburgh to Chicago after leaving it too late to get a flight in time for the meet, and so it had been decided that JJ would travel home with Will to give her head a little more time to come clear.

Having left Chicago late in the afternoon, they had driven some three and a half hours to Toledo, Ohio, where they had found a cheap motel and rented a room for the night. JJ, not wanting to spend all their time cooped up in a ramshackle motel room, had suggested they go out to find something to do.

As they were driving through the outer areas of the city however, Will had spotted a sign for a lookout over Lake Erie, and hence, they were now headed up a large, wooded hill, on their way to the lookout.

Before too long, they had reached a small clearing that had been laid with gravel to act as a parkup bay.

Swinging his truck around, Will reversed it up to the edge of the clearing, so that they would be able to lay in the back of it, relaxing under the stars which were just coming into full view.

While he set about rolling out a thin camp mattress he always kept in the back of the truck, JJ walked just beyond the end of the vehicle to admire the view over the lake. It was breathtaking to behold, yet incredibly peaceful and inviting.

"You gonna join me?" Will called out a few minutes later. Turning, JJ grinned, walking back over to the truck and climbing into the back. Will had set up the mattress, two cushions, and a blanket in case it got colder, so that they would be completely comfortable as they took in the view.

Cuddled up beside each other, they sat for what felt like hours, watching the moonlight reflecting off the shimmering surface of the lake, listening to the rustle of the trees in the breeze, accompanied by the chirping of crickets all around them.

"Will?" JJ said softly after a long yet comfortable silence.

"Mm?" Will replied.

"When did you first know... that you loved me?" she asked quietly.

Will turned to look at her, a happy smile crossing his face as he tightened the arm wrapped around her.

"Remember in tenth grade, we went on that overnight camp with school? We had to do a heap of team building activities, and one of them was that pool game where two people sit on people's shoulders and try to knock each other over-"

"Yes! And you and I had to verse each other"

Will laughed. "It's probably the only physical activity I've ever beaten you in"

JJ laughed as well, draping an arm across his stomach.

"Well, that was when... that was when I first realised I had feelings for you. I'll be perfectly honest and say that a lot of it was probably spurred on by the fact that you spent that entire camp parading around in your bathing suit"

JJ giggled. "It was hot!"

"Yeah, the weather wasn't the only thing that was hot," Will said, his voice growing husky as his hand brushed a little higher on her stomach, sliding beneath her shirt. "But as for when I knew I truly loved you... that was when you got home from London, when I saw you for that first time at the airport. That was when I knew... I'd missed you so much, and when I saw your face again, I almost couldn't control it. I would've kissed you right there in the terminal if it weren't for the hundreds of people and the crippling fear of rejection"

JJ chuckled, looking up at him with nothing but love and admiration in her eyes.

"You were a little slower on the uptake though," Will laughed.

"I think I'd had feelings for you for a long time, but I didn't realise it until London," JJ replied. "It was only after your second phone call and Aly's constant teasing that I started to realise my feelings for you, and it was almost straightaway that I knew I loved you, but I refused to admit it until you told me you loved me the first time"

Will simply responded by smiling, before pulling her into a deep kiss.

Immediately, JJ reciprocated, easily moving so she was straddling Will's lap. He was a little surprised, but receptive none the less.

The quiet sounds of nature around them were soon joined by soft moans of pleasure, their bodies humming with excitement. One by one, their clothing was discarded, the stars twinkling above them in the darkness as they made love to each other with vigour. A show of gentleness and appreciation, it all culminated with guttural cries that broke through the darkness of the night.

Sometime later, they were cuddled up beside each other, breathless and sweaty, but content.

When a distant sound reached his ears, Will turned his head, looking over the side of the truck tray and out towards the road. Two pin pricks of light were weaving their way up the road towards the lookout, darting between the trees with every winding curve.

"Someone's coming!" he exclaimed, stifling laughter as he ducked down out of view of the car he'd spotted coming up the road.

"Oh my god," JJ gasped, looking down at their naked bodies, then back up at Will. As the absurdity of the situation hit her, she started to laugh.

"Can you imagine if someone finds us like this? They'll probably be quite shocked," she giggled, cuddling right up close to Will as he attempted to cover them up with the blanket.

"Let's just hope they don't know who you are," Will chuckled. "Because I don't think it would go down well with USA Gymnastics"

JJ snorted, burying her face in Will's shoulder as the car pulled up a short distance away from them with a crunch of gravel. The engine continued to run, and from what she could hear, no-one was yet exiting the vehicle.

Laughter bubbled from her chest again, despite her attempts to stifle it with her hand.

"Shh!" Will chuckled, playfully covering her hand with his to try and keep her quiet. "You'll get us caught"

It seemed to take forever, but eventually, the car pulled out of the parkup bay and slowly drove away. For the young couple in the truck, they hardly dared to breathe, let alone speak, until the sound of the car's engine had well and truly disappeared into the night.

Lifting her head to look at Will, it only took one glance for them both to dissolve into uncontrollable laughter.

After all, all they could do in life at times was laugh.

* * *

 _ **What happened to JJ at the Classic? I haven't seen the meet yet but she got a really low score on floor and then scratched vault and bars?**_

 _She had a seriously scary fall on her opening pass. She was going for her double double, and somehow punched extremely high, got lost on the second flip, and landed smack on her back on the floor. It was pretty scary to watch, she actually seemed to just drop like a rock out of the air onto her back. She was ok, but the medical team were concerned she had a concussion, so she decided to scratch the rest of the meet. It was later confirmed by JJ on her Instagram that she had a minor concussion as a result of the fall, but she seems eager to get back in the game for Nationals._

 _ **Is JJ seriously going to keep the double double after today?**_

 _Marta got hounded with questions about it following the competition, but she seems extremely confident that JJ will get this skill. No-one is quite sure what happened today, it was a very bizarre fall she had... but both Marta and her coach have stated in the past that the skill looks fantastic at camp and in the gym, it's just the competition aspect of it she seems to be struggling with. As far as I'm aware though, if she doesn't nail it down for Nationals, it's not going to Scotland._

* * *

"I would stay away from your dad today," were Sandy's cautioning words as JJ heaved her bag up from the floor onto her bed.

"Why?" JJ asked, turning around with confusion written all over her face.

"I think he's got a stomach bug... he's been throwing up all day, I don't want you catching it with Nationals next week," Sandy replied.

"Well... I'm going to at least go and tell him I'm home," JJ said stubbornly. Then, with a huff, she spoke again, this time, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "But I won't go past the door"

Sandy rolled her eyes, stepping aside as JJ left the room and headed around the landing to her parents' room.

Pushing open the ajar door, she poked her head into the room with a smile.

"Hey Dad. I'm home," she said sweetly.

Lifting his head, Michael broke into a smile when he saw JJ standing at the door.

"Hey peanut. How was the drive? How's the head?" he asked tiredly. As he spoke, JJ noticed for the first time how pale his skin was. Even in the summer sunshine coming through the window, he looked ashen and exhausted.

"The drive was good. And my head's ok... still a little dizzy. Mom says you're not well though?"

Michael shook his head. "No, I think I ate something funny, or caught someone's bug. I should be ok by tomorrow... just have to sleep it off"

JJ nodded, smiling again. "Well, I won't disturb you any longer, I just wanted to let you know I'm home"

"Alright kiddo. Go rest that head, I'll rest... everything... and then we'll both be fighting fit by the end of the week"

Chuckling, JJ nodded, giving her father one last smile before she turned and exited the room, pulling the door closed behind her.


	73. Chapter 73

**A/N: Speed typed this. This story is about to get really intense, stay tuned!**

* * *

Despite her disaster at Classics, JJ's first night of nationals was going surprisingly well.

Surprisingly was the operative term, because for some reason... everyone was struggling. There had been falls, wobbles, and mishaps left, right, and centre.

Her parents had opted not to attend the competition this time, as her dad was still feeling under the weather, but somewhere up in the stands were Will and her grandmother. JJ was more than aware of their presence and support, and she also knew her parents would be watching back home.

As far as the weird vibes went, the first rotation hadn't been too bad. JJ had nailed the crap out of her beam routine, earning a stirring round of applause and putting an enthusiastic smile on her face.

They had headed around to floor for the second rotation, where JJ had finally put the double double successfully to her feet, getting a huge round of applause as she did so. Her floor routine had been a hit, and she'd walked off all too happy with herself for finally nailing down the skill that had been giving her so much competitive grief.

Minutes later, however, she'd watched in disbelief as Simone, who seemed impervious to everything, seemingly fell out of the sky on her final tumbling pass, landing it on her knees and throwing her hands down to the floor. To say she was surprised was an understatement. Simone had looked completely defeated as she came down from the podium, and JJ knew she was internally beating herself up for falling on what was literally her easiest tumble.

But as she stood at the end of the vault runway, JJ had to shake the weirdness away. Out of the top gymnasts competing that day, she was the only one who'd avoided a major issue so far; and seeing as the last time she'd competed her Amanar, she'd sat it down, she wanted to keep it that way.

" _First of two vaults for Romero's, Jennifer Jareau!"_

Saluting the judges, JJ focused completely on the table in front of her. Pushing the noise, the falls, everything out of her mind, she readied herself for the first attempt.

She took off in her usual fashion, her run powerful and measured. She hurdled in, flipping back and blocking hard from the table.

'Clear the table, hold it in!' she screamed in her mind as her hands lifted clear into the air. She wrapped it in tight, holding on just a fraction longer than she thought she needed to.

And then she was on her feet, facing down towards the camera at the end of the vault, a huge smile spreading across her face as she realised she'd just landed the Amanar successfully in competition.

" _That was GREAT! She looks very happy with that! That's going to bring in a very good score!"_

So far, so good.

* * *

Her second vault had gone just as well as the first, and as a result, JJ was happily sitting in second behind Simone for both vault and the all-around.

Now, she just had to tackle her last event of the day. By now, almost everyone had had weird issues, and the girls had all unanimously agreed it just wasn't their day at all.

Over on the beam, she'd watched Aly fall from the apparatus, much to her own shock; Aly was as consistent on beam as she was. She'd _never_ seen Aly fall!

But she couldn't worry about that now, because she was standing beneath the bars, waiting for her green flag.

" _She's had a brilliant day. Simone still has a small lead over her, even with the fall on floor, but JJ is looking strong to set herself up for top three as we head into night two on Sunday"_

There was her flag, and she wasted no time in saluting, adjusting her grips, and mounting the bars.

The first half of the routine, which was mostly her more intricate skills and her transition skills, felt great. Everything felt clean, and perfectly on, which only invigorated her with more confidence. It was rare for her bars to feel so fantastically on.

In Pittsburgh, Sandy and Michael were glued to their TV, watching as JJ swung around the bars with the most ease she'd ever displayed on the event.

From a handstand, JJ swung down for her first release, a piked Tkatchev. Her catch was a little far, but she managed to hold on as she swung up and readied herself for the next release, the same move but in a straddle.

She flicked it up, soaring backwards over the bar. But she was too close, she could tell as soon as she let go for the release. Her timing was all off.

As she came back down, she reached out for the bar, but was so much closer than she had anticipated. With a hard _smack_ , her face hit the bar, pain erupting through her nose like an explosion. Her arms slid feebly across the bar, before she fell to the mat with another hard THWACK.

" _OW, oh my GOSH!"_

"Oh my god!" Sandy gasped as they both watched JJ crumple to the mat in a heap. The microphones attached to the bars had picked up the sound of her face making harsh contact with the high bar, and as a result, it sounded so much worse on TV.

"Mihai, go, go!" came the faint sound of Nick's voice somewhere down on the sidelines as gasps of shock rang out through the arena.

Too dizzy and in too much pain to stand up, JJ simply put her hand in the air to signal to Nick that she needed help. Already, Mihai had come up onto the podium, being the closest to her, and was kneeling down beside her.

"Stay still... move your hands for a minute," Mihai said gently as Nick thundered up the podium steps with one of the medical staff at his side. JJ did as she was told, pulling her hands away from her face. Nick immediately took a wad of tissues being offered to him and pressed it gently to the bottom of her nose.

"Is it bleeding?" JJ asked, in somewhat of a daze.

"Yeah," Nick nodded. "You'll need to sit up so you don't breathe it in"

Reaching up, JJ held onto Nick to get herself up into a sitting position. Nick kept an arm across her upper back, while she kept the tissues pressed to her nose with shaking hands.

" _You can see here on the replay... she caught her first release a little far, and I'd say it wigged her out a little bit... she keeps going... but when she releases for the second release, she goes up and hardly goes back at all... and right there, she hits the bar and it all just goes way downhill. I don't think she'll complete that routine, so it's going to be a low score"_

" _Can she still be in the hunt for all-around silver?"_

" _Absolutely, if she's clean and consistent on Sunday night... everyone has had mistakes today which has kept the scores lower than their potential, so she definitely still has a chance"_

"Good thing this was your last event, imagine doing beam with a nose like that," Nick said with a chuckle, getting a grin out of JJ. "Think you're ok to move now?"

"I can stand," JJ affirmed, allowing Nick and Mihai to help her to her feet. The crowd applauded as she walked off, clearly glad it wasn't more severe.

"Oh my gosh, are you ok?" Simone asked worriedly as they reached the bank of chairs. JJ nodded, accepting a quick yet gentle hug from her teammate before taking a seat on the nearest chair to allow the medical team to properly check her over.

"I just wanted to call you and let you know she's fine, since there's a camera following her around, just a little banged up... yeah, I'll get her to call you after the meet's over," she heard Nick saying to someone on the phone. Without a doubt, that was her mom.

Way to go out with a bang.

* * *

Hours later, she was cleaned up, dosed up on painkillers, and resting in the hotel room she was sharing with Aly. Having wanted to hang out after the odd day of competition they'd had, most of the girls had joined them in their room, squished up with each other as they watched YouTube videos, browsed the internet, and just generally talked and laughed with each other.

"Your nose looks so painful JJ, are you actually going to compete on Sunday?" Simone asked worriedly as she sat squished up beside her older teammate, Aly on JJ's other side.

"Yeah, of course," JJ said with a smile. "If I'm really lucky, both my eyes will have turned black by then too"

"God, could you imagine?" Aly laughed. "Tim Daggett would start calling you the Flying Raccoon"

JJ and Simone burst out laughing, as did Gabby and Maggie who were sitting within earshot.

"Oh look, I found some hate!" came the triumphant cry of Alyssa Baumann, making the girls laugh. "You ready for this?"

"Go on!" Aly urged.

The girls were no stranger to internet diatribe, being in the public eye as often as they were. They often made light of it, laughing together at camps and meets about the latest uninformed stupidity they'd come across.

"Aly Raisman looked like a tired sack of potatoes when she fell off beam. Time for her to move on and become a glorious bag of potato chips"

"What the heck!" Aly exclaimed as everyone started laughing. "I want whatever they're having"

"Ok, ok, next one!" Alyssa called out. "Wonder if JJ is ever going to get through a competition without screwing something up. Hm... probably not"

JJ laughed. "Have they watched anything prior to last year's Worlds? Better yet, they can come do my routines for me"

"JJ, Simone, and Aly are NOT good on bars. JJ falling on bars made my heart sing... because the routine was OVER"

The three sitting on the bed all looked at each other, before starting to laugh.

Couch gymnasts could say what they wanted. But at the end of the day, all the girls in that room were the best gymnasts in the United States, and some of the best in the world.

And nothing could take that away from them.


	74. Chapter 74

**A/N: Bit of mixed media here!**

 **Disclaimer: With the exception of the paragraphs regarding JJ, the section of this chapter that contains an article was not written by me. It was used, and minorly edited (to fit a continuity mistake), with the express permission of owner and editor of The Gymternet, Lauren Hopkins.**

* * *

 _ **Article by Lauren Hopkins**_

 _It wasn't the day anyone expected, especially not after the debut of the "we got this" tshirts. But the competition wasn't about messing up. It was about getting redemption._

 _Of the 20 gymnasts who competed, most had falls or big mistakes. But most who made those mistakes came back with brilliant performances. Fighting back from mistakes is a big part of competing in gymnastics, and frankly, it's something every gymnast needs to prove at some point. Why not do it at nationals? How you come back from a disaster performance or a fluke fall says a lot about a gymnast as a competitor. Can you put it behind you and kick butt? Or do you get stuck in the moment and continue the drama?_

 _Let's start with Simone Biles. The back-to-back world champion leads after day one by over a point with a score of 61.1 after a relatively weak beam set and a shocking fall on floor. Beginning on beam, the curse of the wolf turn struck. Though she normally has one of the only solid wolf turns in the U.S., a loss of control on her 2.5 spin led to a couple of small wobbles and a hop on the dismount, and she looked_ _pissed_ _when she left the podium. She's not used to messing up, so when it happens, it's obviously going to set her a little on edge._

 _But none of that came through on floor. At first. She looked back and ready to kill it, nailing her first three passes, including a perfect double double. And then she crashed the tucked full-in, her final pass. It wasn't a bad fall, probably just a miscalculation. But it was still shocking because Biles doesn't fall on floor. She's human, it happens to everyone, but floor has been so easy for Simone always, it was just jarring to see it happen (though in the end it wouldn't even_ _really_ _matter, as her score of 14.9 would be a dream score for anyone else)._

 _Vault was then the litmus test for her ability to come back from disappointment and she passed with absolute flying colors. Sticking her beautiful and powerful Amanar, Biles managed a 16.25, earning a 9.85 execution score from the judges, easily the highest score of this quad. She also had the one-tenth stick bonus added to her d-score but it didn't even matter. She was so far ahead, and more importantly, used the disappointment and frustration from falling on floor to light a fire for vault, where she was able to hit one of the best Amanars of all time. She capped off her night with a fabulous bars set, leaving us wondering what on earth was going on in the first two rotations._

 _Aly Raisman had a similar flub on her bhs layout series, which she connects to a split jump. With a low landing on the layout, she continued launching up into the jump but couldn't get it under control and had to take the fall. "I can't remember the last time I fell on beam in competition," she said after. "I went through the rest of the routine not thinking about anything because I didn't want to remember what had just happened."_

 _But Raisman moved to floor and hit the best routine of her comeback, and possibly even one of the best of her career. She hit her huge opening 1.5 through to double arabian to front layout, a Dos Santos to a stag, a double layout, and her coolest upgrade, a double pike to split jump half, which actually looks like a mistake at first but is a super cool upgrade and really makes her stand out. Her 15.55 was definitely deserved, and watching her on this event with the crowd clapping along is absolutely incredible. It feels like 2012 all over again._

 _On vault, she went for the Amanar and had a step out and off the mat, and then she went on to hit a relatively clean bar routine, earning a 14.15, which is pretty much a typical Aly bars score. Her feet were pointed on her Tkatchev, which was awesome, and it's awesome that she's actually pretty consistent there, especially when people assumed she wouldn't bother with bars in her comeback._

 _Then we had Jennifer Jareau. She started out on beam, and after an absolutely incredible set, looked poised to have a fantastic night. And that she did, moving to floor where she finally put her double double successfully to her feet. Her floor routine was so good in fact, that I started wondering if she might give Simone a little run for her money this year. She had her successful double double, followed by a double layout, which was a near stick, followed by a double Arabian tucked, and capped off with a full-in. Most surprising with her floor routine was to see she's ditched the double pike she's been doing (and doing well) since 2009. It's quite rare these days to have girls who close off with a pass harder than a double pike, and I think Simone and JJ are the only two from the US to currently be doing so._

 _From floor, she moved to vault, where she put her Amanar, that had also been giving her trouble, right to her feet. Considering she sat this vault at Jesolo a few months ago, it was quite impressive. Then she performed her second vault (Jennifer Jareau, a second vault, really?), a Lopez, which was actually very clean and well executed._

 _Then came bars. Oh boy._

 _After such a stellar day already, it seemed as though we all believed bars would be no different. But we were very very wrong._

 _The first half of the routine was actually fantastic, but it was a near miss on her catch on her piked Tkatchev that set the tone. Immediately following, she went in for her straddled Tkatchev... and was so close on her catch that she actually smashed her face into the bar, before hitting the mat. There was blood everywhere and people were yelling, but surprisingly, JJ was actually ok. A little bruised, but largely ok, and she showed up at the media event following the meet sporting an impressive bruise across the middle of her face, but wearing a smile nonetheless..._

* * *

The second night of Nationals had gone _much_ better than the first. Simone had, as expected, clinched her third straight all-around title, as well as taking the vault title as well. Floor would have also been hers for the taking, had it not been for the fall on day one. As it turned out, both Aly and JJ had scored higher than her over the two days of competition, and so Simone had had to settle for bronze.

Dealing with a little residual pain, JJ had matched her three great performances from night one with four great performances on night two. Thought to be a shoo-in for all-around silver, her unfinished bars routine and subsequent low score from the first night meant she'd had a lot of ground to make up, and as it so happened, she'd only just scraped in for the bronze, with Maggie Nichols ahead of her for the silver. However, she had added her sixth straight national beam title to her glowing resume, as well as silver medals on vault and floor.

But the best part for her was that she had been named to the national team and earned an automatic berth to the selection camp for Worlds in a few week's time.

Now, it was just time to get everything cleaned up and consistent for Worlds.


	75. Chapter 75

**A/N: Short and jumpy but a fun one!**

* * *

" _It's been ten years since my older sister committed suicide... but the pain has never truly gone away. In many ways, I am still grieving for her. I'm still healing. I learnt this summer that it's ok... it's ok to still be grieving. There isn't a time limit on these things. I'm still learning every day how to live without her, how to go on when it feels like time stopped ten years ago. And that's ok"_

" _I was the one who found her... covered in her own blood, lying in our bathtub at six in the morning. I was ten years old. Ten. I barely even knew what suicide was, and there I was coming face to face with it. It was incredibly traumatic. I don't remember much of the days following her death because I went into shock. I started having nightmares... I would wake up screaming and crying. For nearly three months. Every night. And even now... earlier this summer, I started having the nightmares again. I witnessed something a grown adult can barely understand, and yet, I was just a child"_

" _Losing someone you love to suicide is painful, and it's heartbreaking, because you'll forever question if there was something you could've done, some way you could've helped them. It's ok to have these feelings. It's ok to struggle. And it's ok to grieve, even ten years on. There are people out there who are experiencing the same pain and heartbreak, and we have to band together, we have to help each other. Blackbird can help you do that"_

" _My name is Jennifer Jareau. I'm a World and Olympic champion in gymnastics. And I lost my sister to suicide"_

* * *

She'd barely set foot on the wooden walkway along the front of the dorms when what looked like half the girls attending camp came racing out of open doors to greet her.

"About time you got here!" Simone exclaimed as she gave JJ a tight hug, before taking her pillow in order to free up her hands.

"Our flight got delayed," JJ laughed, pulling her suitcase along the walkway as Simone led her to the room she and Aly always stayed in at camps.

"You're here!" Aly shrieked happily as she came bounding out of the room to throw her arms around JJ, almost knocking her off her feet. Laughing, JJ hugged Aly back, before following her into their dorm and dropping her backpack on her bed. Simone followed behind them, putting JJ's pillow down beside her bag and taking a seat on the edge of the bed.

"I need to give you an even bigger hug," Aly said softly once JJ had put her things down. JJ, slightly confused, accepted the gesture.

"Why?" she asked as Aly pulled her in.

"Because I saw the Blackbird video," Aly replied, holding onto JJ for a few moments before pulling away once more. JJ softened at her friend's words; she had filmed the campaign video for Blackbird during the short break between nationals and camp. Obviously, by now, her friends and teammates would have seen it.

"How come you never said anything? At the June camp, you were struggling so badly with something and you never told us... all I ever knew was that you had a sister and she passed away"

"I just don't like talking about it," JJ said softly as Simone stood up and gave her a squeeze from behind. "It's literally the worst thing that's ever happened to me... even Will didn't know the full story until just before my birthday"

"It made me cry," Aly admitted.

"That doesn't surprise me," JJ teased, making Simone laugh as Aly shook her head.

"Well, I hope that you're at least doing a little better now," Aly said sincerely.

JJ nodded. "I am... I was so scared to say it all out loud and put my private life out in the public like that... but when I was finished... I felt so much better. Lighter, I guess. I've been carrying that story around for ten years, and I never realised how much it was eating away at me until I actually revealed it to a camera"

Simone squeezed her a little tighter as Aly broke into a reassuring smile.

"We're here for you. Always"

* * *

Two days into camp and they were all working harder than ever. So much hard work meant that their downtime together was fast becoming loud, rambunctious, and oddly hilarious.

"You are not the police of this party, you can't shut us down!" Simone shrieked at Aly before breaking into a fit of giggles. Aly was laughing as well, filming from the top bunk of the bed she had climbed onto. Across the room, JJ, Gabby, and Alyssa were laughing too; Simone was always the first to get a little crazy on camps. Her naturally rambunctious nature made absolute sure of that.

It was early the following morning when JJ and Aly were awoken by the door to their dorm flying open.

"WAKE UP!" came Simone's yell, followed by laughter that JJ recognised as Maggie's. Simone clapped her hands together, laughing the entire time.

Groaning, JJ pulled the blankets over her head as Simone leant down and tried to tug them away.

"Hi JJ," she cooed through giggles.

"It's too early," Aly mumbled.

"What do you mean, c-come on, we gotta go to breakfast!" Simone laughed. "Time to GET UP!"

And with that, she had bounded out of the room, Maggie at her heels, no doubt to deliver the same wakeup call to the other girls.

* * *

"Simone Biles, Gabby Douglas, Jennifer Jareau, Madison Kocian, Maggie Nichols, and Aly Raisman will make up the team for the world championships in Glasgow. Mykayla Skinner will be the travelling alternate, while Brenna Dowell and Bailie Key will be the non-travelling alternates"

JJ breathed a sigh of relief.

After a rough year, a nationals that had not gone as planned, and an intense training camp, she would be going to Worlds. All the work and perseverance had paid off.

After Marta had finished addressing them, they broke from formation to gather their things. Aly bounded excitedly over to JJ, throwing her arms around her.

"We're going to Worlds again!" she shrieked happily as JJ let out a laugh.

"Damn, I was just getting used to being by myself," JJ teased as they grabbed their things. Aly giggled.

"You won't get rid of me that easily boo"


	76. Chapter 76

**A/N: Enjoy!**

* * *

" _I think it's probably best if we don't come to Worlds this year. Your dad doesn't feel well enough to travel that far, and he's got a few doctors appointments during those two weeks you're away"_

Her heart sank at her mother's words, but not wanting her mom to see her disappointment, she forced a smile onto her face.

"It's ok. The most important thing is that dad gets better," she said softly as Aly draped an arm over her shoulders.

"She can share my parents Sandy, they'll look after her," Aly said with a smile.

" _I don't doubt that for a second,"_ Sandy chuckled.

"What do they think is going on with dad anyway? He's been sick for ages," JJ asked.

Sandy shrugged. _"One doctor thinks it's one of those long term viruses that's just impossible to shake off, another one thinks it's glandular fever, one of them even said he's just getting old, to which your dad basically told him to stick that idea where the sun can't shine"_

JJ and Aly laughed.

" _I don't know what's going on with him, but he's still up and about, he's just lethargic and feels crappy. No-one seems to think it's serious... it's just figuring what it actually is"_

"Yeah. Well, give him a hug for me," JJ said warmly.

" _I will. Let me know when you guys arrive in Scotland. I'm sorry we can't be there, but we'll be watching every session on NBC, don't you worry"_

"I know. I love you," JJ said, smiling.

" _I love you too sweetheart"_

* * *

Getting to Glasgow had been the easy part. An intense week of training, followed by podium training, followed with more training, had left the girls feeling completely wrecked. Even Simone wasn't her usual bubbly self, and the stress and pressure everyone was under was starting to wear thin across the whole team.

Qualifications had not gone to plan. Simone had been largely ok on each event, as had JJ, but the other girls had experienced some issues. Aly had by far been the worst of the lot. Running out of her Amanar, falling on bars, missing just about every connection in her beam routine, and going out of bounds on floor had left the usually strong and stoic Aly Raisman quite shaken and upset with herself. As a result of her mistakes, she had not advanced to any of the individual finals.

Simone had qualified first to the all-around, vault, and floor, as well as qualifying in second to the beam final. She'd been unrattled by everything going on around her, as was by now expected of her.

JJ had made it through to every single individual final, a first for her in international competition. Her bars routine had only just scraped past Gabby for the final, something that had surprised the US delegation. She was, as expected, leading the pack on beam, and charging ahead behind Simone on floor.

Gabby had performed strongly to help the team qualify for the team final, but individually, her scores had not been strong enough to make it into the individual finals. Had it not been for the two per country rule, however, she would have easily made it in third to the all-around final. Maggie was in the same boat. Her strong performances had gotten them through to the team final, but she was just under the cut for individual finals, having been two per countried out of the floor final after scoring lower than JJ and Simone. She had experienced issues on floor in the qualification round, the most major of them being that her music had failed to play. Fearing a disqualification as the timer ticked further and further down, she had simply started, completing her routine with no music, much to the applause and encouragement of the crowd in the SSE Hydro. The judges had rewarded her well for the very valiant attempt, but not high to make the final.

The last of the bunch was Madison, who at her second Worlds, had performed well enough on her sole event, the uneven bars, in the opening round to help the team qualify, as well as qualifying herself to the event final.

Despite the nerves and shakiness that had come through, the hardest job was done. The team was qualified directly to the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio the following summer, and they were looking to build in finals as some of the pressure eased.

Besides... gymnastics was supposed to be fun.


	77. Chapter 77

**A/N: Currently nursing my second shoulder dislocation. Fun times.**

* * *

An afternoon of free time following morning training had seen the girls creating their own entertainment in Aly and JJ's hotel room. Spurred on largely by Simone and Aly, movies and gossip had quickly become a game of "never have I ever"... which in a room full of gymnasts, was unveiling some neat little surprises.

"Never have I ever been kissed," Madison said quietly, smiling as Gabby, Aly, JJ, and Mykayla all dropped candies into the center.

"Um, who?" JJ asked, looking at Aly. Aly grinned.

"I'll tell you later," she muttered, noticing Simone's look of eager curiosity.

"Never have I ever... envisioned tripping Marta on her way to the training hall at the ranch," Mykayla said with a giggle. The girls laughed, all tossing candies in.

"I love Marta, but five thirty is just way too early," Aly said, the thought of the early mornings prompting a yawn, which only added to the laughter.

"Ok my turn!" Simone exclaimed. "Never have I ever had a boyfriend"

JJ was the only one to toss in a candy.

"I think you're all just out to get me," she laughed.

"You're the adventurous one who actually has a normal life outside of gymnastics, of course we're out to get you," Gabby teased.

"Normal my ass," JJ said dryly, making her teammates laugh.

"Alright," Aly sighed, looking thoughtful for a minute, before a grin spread across her face. "Never have I ever had sex"

The girls laughed as JJ turned slowly and gave Aly a pointed look that said _'really?'._

"You said that _just_ because you knew I'd have to put in," she chuckled, dropping one of the candies into the middle.

"Might as well put in your whole handful for that, you sex maniac," Aly teased, getting a playful shove from JJ as the girls all laughed.

"Wait, have you actually?" Maggie asked curiously as the giggles of the others filtered through the room. JJ grinned, nodding.

"We've been together for three years... that would be one heck of a dry spell," she joked, inciting more laughter. Maggie grinned, relaxing back against the bed again.

"Never have I ever done something stupid on a medal podium," she said cheekily.

"Ok now that's just mean!" Simone shrieked as the others burst out laughing again. "The bee was going to sting me!"

Her cheeks were hurting from laughing so hard, but her heart was full of love and warmth. So far from home, under so much pressure, the weight of a nation on their shoulders... they were the greatest gymnasts in the world, but right now... they were just young girls.

They were family.

* * *

Following dinner, some relaxation time before bed had provided JJ with the perfect opportunity to call home and check in with her parents before the team final was upon them the following day. With Aly engrossed in whatever TV show she was watching on her laptop, JJ dialled her father's phone number, sitting facing the balcony as she pressed the phone to her ear.

" _Hey peanut!"_ he greeted sweetly after the third ring. _"How's everything in wee old Scotland?"_

JJ laughed. "That accent was awful and you know it"

" _I know it"_

Chuckling, JJ shook her head. "Scotland is good. It's gorgeous here. We're pretty tired, but hopefully finals will give us a bit more energy"

" _You all looked great in qualifications, even with the mistakes. How's Aly holding up?"_

Glancing over at her friend, JJ smiled. "She's good. Reinvigorated and ready to go"

" _Are Marta and Nick on your ass all day every day?"_

"Pretty much," JJ chuckled. "But Nick's just as tired as the rest of us, so he's been cutting me some slack"

" _What about Simone, she looked a little more reserved than usual"_

"Yeah, she has been. Like I said, we're all just really tired. Simone's kind of had it the past few days. Everyone in the gymnastics circles is talking about her going for a threepeat in the all-around and she looks like she's ready to throat punch the next person who even mentions it"

" _It's a lot of pressure for her, but I have no doubt she'll rise to the occasion. What about you, my beam queen, not feeling too nervous?"_

"No, not nervous. Just a little antsy I guess. We want to go out and there and get it done"

" _Fair enough"_

"But enough about me. How are you and Mom?"

" _Coping just fine without you. We're thinking of turning your room into a craft room"_

JJ laughed. "Nice Dad"

" _I'm not kidding, your mom has curtains picked out and everything"_

Hearing her father's teasing laugh on the other end of the phone only warmed JJ's heart further.

" _Will was around yesterday to watch qualifications with us. He stayed for dinner. I think he misses you peanut, he seems a little lonely"_

"I keep telling him he needs to see his friends more often, but I don't think he likes them very much anymore," JJ chuckled. "Thinks he's too sophisticated for them"

Michael laughed. _"Sounds like Will. He wanted me to pass along his congratulations on qualifying, and he said he would speak to you either today or the day after the team final"_

"I might give him a call in a little while, since there's no doubt he'll still be up," JJ giggled. "Oh, by the way, did you go to the doctor's today?"

" _I did"_

Expecting him to keep speaking, JJ stayed silent. But a few moments passed, and still, nothing was said.

"And?" she prompted. "How did it go?"

Michael didn't reply. Instead, more silence lingered between them. The smile on JJ's face slowly faded away, and the sudden lull in the conversation had started to draw Aly's attention away from her show.

"Dad?"

Michael sighed heavily. _"I didn't want to say anything until you got home"_

"What... what do you mean?" JJ asked softly. "Dad... what's wrong?"

" _I don't want you to worry-"_

"Are you sick?" JJ asked, the anxiety churning up in her stomach as tears welled in her eyes. By now, Aly had removed her earphones and was watching with concern as all the colour began to drain from JJ's face.

Michael took a deep breath.

" _I have colon cancer, JJ. Stage four"_

His voice was so quiet that JJ wasn't sure she'd heard him correctly. But the word 'cancer' had undoubtedly reached her ears. Instantaneously, JJ felt like the bottom of her stomach had dropped out. Her entire world felt like it was spinning out of control, all because of those seven words.

She burst into tears, covering her mouth with her hand as Aly leapt up from her bed and ran over to her.

" _Oh peanut, don't cry. It's ok"_

"How is it ok?" JJ sobbed as Aly wrapped her arms around her and held her in a tight hug. "You're sick, Dad, how on earth is that ok?"

" _Because it's treatable. The doctor is confident I have a good prognosis. It's going to be ok, JJ, I promise. I don't want you to worry about me"_

"That's easier said than done," JJ sobbed.

" _I wanted to wait until you were home to tell you... I didn't want you to be thinking about this while you're competing,"_ Michael said gently. _"Please don't worry about me, JJ... I'm not going anywhere. I'll be right here when you get home"_

"You're sick, Dad," JJ breathed, the tears still cascading down her cheeks with unrelenting force.

" _I know, but do you really think you're gonna get rid of your old man that easily? If you want to stop me from screaming my head off in the stands, you'll have to come up with another way"_

JJ let out a watery laugh, but just as quickly dissolved into more tears.

" _Listen to me sweetheart. Everything is going to be ok. I have your wonderful mother looking after me, and believe me, nothing could possibly go wrong when she's in charge. I'm starting a course of treatment tomorrow, and I have something to look forward to every day, ok? I get to watch my beautiful talented daughter compete for her country in the hardest sport in the world. You're my light, JJ, you're my strength to get me through this. I don't want you worrying because I'm going to be ok. I only want you to worry about your job in Glasgow, because everything is going to be fine"_

"Ok," JJ whispered in the smallest voice possible as Aly, tears also running down her cheeks, tightened her hold on her.

" _I love you peanut, your mother and I are both so proud of you. Go out there and keep kicking ass, ok?"_

"Ok," JJ said again.

" _I have to go, but I'll talk to you again as soon as possible"_

"I love you," JJ breathed, unable to fight off her tears once more.

" _I love you too JJ... so so much"_

And with that, they ended their call.

No sooner had she set her phone down on the bed beside her than JJ burst into uncontrollable tears, at almost the exact moment Simone came running into their room through the unlocked door.

"Aly, I... what happened?" she asked, immediately concerned.

"Simone, I need you to go and get Nick. Now. I don't care where he is, just find him. If you can't find him, get Aimee. Or someone. Please," Aly said tearfully, holding JJ as tight as she could without hurting her.

No questions asked, Simone obliged, turning on her heel and racing out of the room.

"He has... stage four cancer... Aly... he's sick," JJ sobbed into her friend's shoulder, her body shaking terribly with her distress as Aly tried desperately to offer her the comfort and reassurance she needed.

It felt like forever, but Simone eventually returned, Nick on her heels at a sprint.

"What happened?" he asked anxiously as he entered the room, heading straight for his distraught gymnast.

"She just called her dad... he's been diagnosed with cancer," Aly choked out, wiping away her own tears. Behind them, Simone looked stunned, her expression reading total shock and heartbreak.

At Aly's explanation, Nick's face fell.

"Oh JJ, I'm so sorry," he said sincerely, reaching out and pulling her into a hug. "You're just not catching a break this year, are you?"

Unable to reply, all JJ could do was bury her face in her coach's shirt and cry.

"It's alright kiddo," Nick said softly. "Get it all out now"

Worlds had just become a completely new ballgame.

* * *

It took a great deal of time, but eventually, JJ had been calmed down by Nick, Aly, and Simone. Heartbroken and upset, she had spent the remainder of the evening sitting quietly on her bed, her eyes red and puffy, Aly keeping a close eye on her.

Marta had also been in to speak to her, offering her the option of withdrawing and going straight home. JJ had refused, knowing that what was important to her dad right now was that she stayed put and gave it everything she had.

She was made of the toughest stuff. It sucked, that was for sure.

But more than anything, she was going to give her dad a reason to smile every day.

She would make him proud.


	78. Chapter 78

**A/N: Anon who asked for the original – I kind of don't want to post it because the reason I took it down was because it was so poorly informed and so cringey, I prefer this new version. However, I'm happy to share the old version with you, I still have it saved on my computer. Maybe I could email it to you or something? If you have an account here, contact me here, otherwise contact me on my Twitter (honorary_usa) or my Tumblr (thehonoraryamerican) :D**

* * *

Numb, in shock, and void of any residual emotion, JJ had spent the day in training simply going through the motions. Mistakes that would normally have frustrated her had absolutely no effect; when she fell from the beam in morning practice, she had simply pulled herself up with absolutely no sign of emotion on her face. It had concerned both Marta and Nick, and had led to a great deal of hushed conversations between the coaches. Not that JJ had noticed.

The other girls had offered their sympathy before breakfast, but unsure of what else to say, they had seemingly tiptoed around her. Aly and Simone had taken it upon themselves to keep an eye on her, with Aly offering more reassurance than usual, and Simone keeping her usual bubbly demeanour a little more downplayed than was custom. For both of them, JJ was silently appreciative. With the team final looming and the previous evening's news playing in her mind, Aly and Simone were keeping her grounded by simply being their kind-hearted selves.

" _Your mother and I are so proud of you. Go out there and keep kicking ass, ok?"_

Her father's sweet parting words had been playing on a loop in her head all day, chasing away the saddened thoughts that wanted to take up residence. Two simple sentences were doing the monumental task of reminding her to just breathe. To take it one step at a time even when she felt like she was close to breaking down.

They were now on the bus to the SSE Hydro Arena, dressed and ready for the team final. A leotard in a deep red, adorned with a vortex swirl of Swarovski crystals, coupled with a crimson lip was more than certainly the way to go. It oozed confidence, and threw back to the Olympic team final of 2012. That, coupled with the fact that the girls were back in Great Britain for the first time since their historic win meant they were feeling more than ready to tackle the challenge the final was sure to bring.

As they crawled slowly down the road towards the arena, JJ's phone buzzed in her hand. Turning it over, she saw Will's caller ID lighting up her screen. Barely hesitating, she answered it, lifting the phone to her ear.

"Hey," she said softly as Aly put in her earphones to give JJ a little more privacy.

" _Hey... you ok?"_

JJ took a deep breath, biting her lip as she glanced out towards the sidewalk.

"Do you know what's going on?" she asked, keeping her voice low.

" _Yeah... your mom called me a little while ago... she sounds really worried about you"_

"I'm fine," JJ said quietly, but even to her, it didn't sound that convincing.

" _JJ, I know you... you've been torturing yourself over it since you made that call"_

JJ let out a half hearted laugh. "Will... you may think you know me, but please... don't do this now"

" _JJ-"_

"No," JJ said sharply, her voice cracking and her eyes burning with tears. She dropped her voice to barely above a whisper as she sunk down in her seat so no-one would see her face. "We're on the way to the arena for the team final, Will, I don't care if you want to pick a fight with me later over the worst news I've ever received, but please, please don't do it now"

" _Ok,"_ Will conceded softly. _"I'm sorry. I don't want to upset you"_

"Will?"

" _Yeah?"_

Swallowing hard to fight back the lump in her throat, JJ allowed a few stray tears to slip down her cheeks. Wordlessly beside her, Aly reached over and squeezed her free hand.

"Tell me it's going to be ok"

" _Oh beautiful... it's going to be just fine. Your dad is a million times tougher than a few pesky cells. He's going to be just fine darlin'. And you're going to go out there with your girls and kill it like you always do, and we're all going to be watching prouder than we've ever been before"_

Sniffing back more tears before it could ruin her makeup, JJ forced a smile onto her face.

"Thank you"

" _Any time,"_ Will said sweetly. _"I'll let you go, ok? Just promise me one thing. Don't forget how much we love you"_

"I love you too"

" _Think of how I'll be able to hear your dad cheering and screaming from my apartment"_

Letting out a genuine laugh, JJ sat up a little bit more.

" _Good luck gorgeous. You're gonna be amazing"_

* * *

The phone call with Will had proved just the little lift JJ needed to get through the final. They were three rotations down, one to go, and all had so far gone perfectly to plan. The atmosphere in the SSE Hydro was electric, with the competition floor illuminated to make the girls competing feel as if they were truly the stars of their own show. The British fans were energising, and JJ had found herself feeling happily nostalgic for the London Olympics.

JJ was competing all-around for the team, and while it was usually an exhausting decision, today, it was more of a help than a hindrance; her momentum had started off well on vault and she was tracking well with all of her performances. Maggie, in her first major international final, was proving to be a strong and levelheaded competitor who could be counted on to hit when it mattered; even though she was only performing on vault, she had started off incredibly strong for what was now a commanding lead.

Bars had seen Russia close the gap, but only slightly; with JJ, Gabby, and Madison all working bars, they had put up three very consistent scores that had all broken 15. JJ had personally nailed her routine, proving her growing strength on the apparatus and as an all-arounder. Gabby had also nailed her routine, scoring marginally higher on her signature event than JJ had, but had paved the way for Madison to close out with another solid performance.

Beam in the third rotation had been the game changer. The Americans had seen little to no trouble. Aly had started them off, managing to piece together all the connections that had given her trouble in the qualifying round, delivering a strong set to get the ball rolling on the event. Simone had followed, her confidence only skyrocketing further when she dismounted with little more than a wobble to deduct for. And JJ had proved yet again why she was the reigning World and Olympic champion, with her upgraded difficulty audibly impressing the watching crowd.

But Russia had come to blows. All three of their gymnasts, Maria Kharenkova, Seda Tutkhalyan, and the returning Viktoria Komova, had all counted a fall into their routines. The three point deficit had dropped them down in the standings significantly, opening the door up for Japan, or the chasing Great Britain to get themselves onto the podium. Their turn on floor had not much improved that standing; they hadn't fallen, but the routines would have needed to be significantly better to hold onto a bronze medal.

Aly had gone first for them on floor, with Marta wanting a secure and calm start to their final rotation, and had posted a great score of 15.075 to start them off, much better than her qualifying.

Immediately following her floor routine, Ellie Downie of Great Britain, had delivered the final performance of Team GB's final, a respectably solid double twisting Yurchenko. JJ had watched from the other side of the arena as Ellie rejoined her teammates, a little breathless from what she had just done. Having fallen on bars earlier in the evening, it must have felt incredible to deliver such a strong resurgence.

With chills going down her spine and her already emotionally strained heart aching with happiness, JJ had watched as Ellie's score came in, putting Great Britain into second behind China, meaning they were taking home their first ever World team medal. The arena had seemingly exploded with cheers, the British coaches up in the stands bursting into tears as the seven girls all hugged and shed tears of relief and joy. For Becky and Ellie Downie, Claudia Fragapane, Ruby Harrold, Kelly Simm, Amy Tinkler, and Charlie Fellows, it was a monumental moment. It wasn't gold, but to them, it might as well have been.

And now, JJ was on the floor, readied in her starting pose.

Her upbeat music started, and she took to the floor.

Straightaway she was running down the diagonal, hurdling into her first tumbling run, her double double. After nailing it at Nationals, it had been worked to the grindstone at selection camp.

And it paid off, with her feet hitting the ground and never moving much to the applause of the watching crowd.

She danced through her choreography, the world around her melting away as she focused just on herself and her music.

A flighty double layout followed as her second tumbling run; a little piked down on the landing, but still strong nonetheless.

The music slowed, flowing into the section that matched Aly's (probably much to the amusement of the audience), allowing her to breathe and focus on the dance elements of her routine. Her leap series was powerful, sure to have hit 180 degrees of split, followed by her double Y turn, which she had a wobble at the end of. Nothing too major.

Before the music changed back to the faster piece, she ran into her third run, a double Arabian in the tucked position, connected beautifully to a stag leap.

And then it picked up the pace. Her final tumbling run, her full in double tuck, was put effortlessly to her feet, seconds before she struck her final pose with a sharp flourish, her eyes growing bright under the arena lights.

As upset as she'd been the previous evening, she'd pulled it together. The girls had needed her to be in top form, and she'd done so, going out and delivering four very strong routines that she knew had made her mom and dad incredibly proud.

A tight hug from Aly and then from Nick as she'd descended the podium had threatened to open the floodgates, but she'd held it together, gradually pulling her emotions back in check so she could cheer on her younger teammate for the final routine of the evening.

Simone had undoubtedly delivered, her difficulty and execution combination soaring well above the pack with her natural performance value to net the USA their third straight World team title.

And not only that. Now that they had not only qualified to Rio, but stormed ahead of the rest for the win, the pressure was on.

In nine months time, they would be expected to deliver yet again for the biggest prize of all.

Olympic gold.

* * *

 **Skill Guide**

 _Double Y turn –_ the gymnast executes a double turn with her leg pulled up by her head (resembles the shape made by the letter Y)


	79. Chapter 79

**A/N: Short and a tad jumpy. I'm so nervous about my exams, I feel like my stomach wants to crawl out my mouth.**

* * *

"Shut up, you're going to get us caught!" JJ hissed as Simone tried to stifle her laughter as they stepped off the elevator.

Their day off had been largely uneventful. Until Simone had decided in the evening she wanted a pizza.

It had started out as nothing more than a joke, until the seven of them had conspired together to make the ultimate plan that would get them a pizza without any of the coaches or Marta knowing.

And that was how JJ had found herself sneaking back into the hotel with Simone, each of them carrying a pizza. They had only just a few moments earlier been standing on the street, waiting for Gabby to signal from the balcony that it was clear to come back inside.

Her phone buzzed, showing a text from Aly on the screen.

 _ **Hallway's clear. Move your asses.**_

Grinning, JJ beckoned for Simone to follow her, around the corner and down the hallway towards their rooms. Aly was waiting outside the door, gesturing for them to hurry up.

"Want anything from the shop?"

The muffled voice of JJ's coach behind the door put a spring in the girls' step, with Madison throwing open the hotel room door as they approached. They dove in seconds before Nick stepped out into the hallway, pulling on his jacket as he did. Before he set off towards the elevators, he looked left, only to see Aly standing in the hallway giving him a challenging look.

"Uh...," he said, clearly confused as to why she was standing in the hallway.

Fighting back laughter, Aly ducked to her left, disappearing into the room and closing the door before the muffled sound of laughter reached Nick's ears.

Completely baffled, Nick shook his head, grinning as he turned towards the elevators.

He knew they were up to something, but for now, he'd let them have their fun.

* * *

Two hours later, it was just JJ and Aly alone in their room. After eating all of the pizzas, the girls had relaxed and chatted for a while before breaking back to their own rooms to shower and sleep, as it was starting to get late.

Before she got into bed, JJ was walking slowly around the room, setting out the things she would need the following day for the all-around final. The red leotard she and Simone had decided to wear. Her hair ribbon. Her grips. Her chalk. Her spray bottle. Rolls of tape.

As she was checking it all over, Aly rose from her bed, walking over to her and putting an arm around her friend's shoulders.

"Hey... everything's going to be fine tomorrow," she said gently. "You're getting a little pedantic... you only get like this when you're nervous"

JJ exhaled heavily, turning to look at Aly with a rueful smile on her face. "Is it that obvious?"

Aly nodded, chuckling lightly. "What's going on? You never get nervous"

"I don't know," JJ said quietly. "Whether it's the pressure of being the year before the Olympics... or if it's because of my dad"

"You spoke to him this morning and he said he was fine," Aly reminded her gently.

"I know, but he'll say that regardless because he won't want me to worry," JJ replied.

Turning JJ to face her, Aly put both her hands on her friend's shoulders.

"Take his word for it. Because right now, there's nothing you can do. Worrying just makes you feel even worse. The best thing you can do right now is focus on your gymnastics. Give your dad something to smile about when you go out there with Simone tomorrow and kill it"

JJ broke into a grin. "He said this morning he's always got a reason to smile when my mom is around"

"Aww!" Aly gushed as they both started to laugh. "Your dad is such a sap, I love it"

Letting out a heavy breath, JJ visibly relaxed, leaning over and giving Aly a squeeze.

"I think I'd be a little lost without you right now," she admitted as Aly wrapped her arms around her in a warm hug.

"What are friends for?" Aly said with a smile. "Come on girl... you need to get your rest"

Within half an hour, they were both asleep, with JJ feeling more than prepared to tackle what was ahead.


	80. Chapter 80

**A/N: I HOPE I SURVIVE THESE UNITS DEAR LORD.**

* * *

Two rotations down, and they were almost completely through the third. Simone was sitting in the lead after a stellar vault and a solid bars routine, with JJ just over half a point behind her. Her beam routine had not gone quite to plan; a slip up on her front tuck had forced her to almost grab the beam in order to save herself from falling, but her difficulty saved her immensely. Every gymnast in the building knew that only a major issue on floor would have a hope of stopping Simone from repeating as world champion.

JJ had experienced some minor issues on bars; some short handstands and form breaks that had unfortunately added up in deductions, but luckily, she had gone one better than the previous year's all-around final and stayed on the apparatus.

She was now standing by the beam waiting for her turn, and her stomach was churning horribly. She knew it wasn't beam that was making her so nervous; she'd been pushing off thoughts of what was going on at home all day. Knowing her dad was watching her from home made her feel a little better, but it didn't erase the fact that once she got home, their lives were forever changed.

Swallowing thickly as her light went green, she saluted the judges and prepared to mount before she could overthink herself into a frenzy.

Her mount was characteristically solid. Her standing Arabian saw a small check on the landing, but nothing too serious.

She focused entirely on her own body as she whipped back into her Onodi, followed immediately by her front aerial to front aerial. One of her feet almost missed the beam as she came down at the end, causing a larger than usual wobble, but she held onto it.

" _Very nervy beam rotation for all the competitors today. Hopefully JJ can keep it together and finish it up strong for them. She literally hasn't fallen on a beam set since the 2009 junior national championships, and I hope, touch wood, that that isn't going to change anytime soon"_

Flip, flip, layout full.

Nailed it.

Allowing a smile onto her face reminded her to breathe as she worked through the rest of the routine, her confidence growing more and more with each skill. She was feeling strong and completely on by the time she was ready to dismount, and so it was that she put her dismount perfectly to her feet.

" _A little wobbly to start, but it ended up being a great routine for Jennifer Jareau!"_

" _Just what she needed after bars"_

"Good job, you brought it back nicely," Nick praised, giving her a hug as she came down the stairs. "Just needed a little more focus in the beginning"

Nodding, JJ pulled away, managing a smile as Simone approached her for a hug.

"Still better than me," Simone giggled, making JJ laugh.

A 15.333 ended up being her score, settling her in right behind Simone as the third rotation came to a close.

* * *

Having fallen away from a silver medal at the previous year's world championships, JJ was standing waiting to go on floor, a fire burning inside her to finish strong and prove she was the best in the world up there with Simone.

She'd never found herself thinking of herself as the best, not even really on beam. She'd always taken the stance of simply doing her best and being happy with the result. But over the past few days, with everything going on, she had been channelling her focus into the results she wanted to achieve. And it had brought out her competitiveness, the desire to be the best.

She wanted to leave the final with no regrets.

" _On floor, representing the United States of America, Jennifer Jareau!"_

Saluting, she stepped out onto the floor and into her starting pose. A small smile played around her lips as a glimmer of confidence sparkled in her eyes.

" _She's pretty much locked down for a silver medal... so long as she stays on her feet"_

When her music began, she let it flow through her, her muscle memory carrying her perfectly into her opening tumbling pass.

This routine, this one right here... she was going to make it the best she had ever done.

And it very nearly was, with only a few missteps on her landings that added up into her deductions. When she struck her final pose, it was to excited and appreciative applause.

"Awesome, awesome job kiddo," Nick gushed when she skipped off the podium to join him and Aimee. "That was one of the best routines I've seen you do"

"I've done it better," JJ said nonchalantly.

"Maybe once," Nick replied with a grin, pulling her into a warm hug. "I'm really proud of you... I know it's been a rough week for you, let alone a rough year... but I'm really really proud of you. You just keep pushing through everything and getting better"

"I hope my dad was watching," JJ said softly, a smile creeping onto her face as she hugged her coach.

"The house could've burnt down around the TV set and your dad would still be watching," Nick chuckled. "Don't you worry about that"

Her score came up, a 14.900 to have her in the lead ahead of Larisa Iordache. Larisa had been overcome with emotion to see she would be taking home a medal; after a disastrous qualifications, she had qualified in the last group to the all-around final. Romania as a whole had also failed to qualify directly to the Olympics, meaning they would have to put together a team in April and travel to Rio for the Olympic test event and attempt to qualify there. It was a revelation that had shocked the rest of the countries; Romania had always been considered one of the Big Four in gymnastics, along with the USA, China, and Russia. Now, they had failed to make a team final for the first time in as long as anyone could remember.

Simone took the floor just a few moments later to deliver the finishing touches on her third world all-around title. It didn't come easily; she landed her eponymous skill, the Biles, completely out of bounds, much to the surprise of the watching crowd.

But by the time she had finished, no-one could deny she had done it again.

And so it was when her score came up, Simone in first for the third year in a row. JJ was in second, just three tenths behind her tiny teammate, and Larisa in third to clinch an incredible bronze.

It was a good feeling for JJ as they left the arena later that night with their medals around their necks; her dad had texted her to say he was incredibly proud and that she had made a crappy day feel a lot better. That was really all she wanted to achieve.

Improving her dad's days, however she could.


	81. Chapter 81

**A/N: This one's a fun one!**

* * *

 _ **What did you think of that all-around final? JJ and Simone's scores seemed so much lower than we're used to seeing from them.**_

 _The judging yesterday was quite strict, which is absolutely fine as long as everyone is ranked where they should be. I think the podium was absolutely bang on – Simone was always going to win, and JJ and Larisa fought through and despite their minor mistakes, they were clearly the silver and bronze medallists out of the bunch. Keeping in mind that the two Americans also had some issues which copped deductions; Simone had that issue on beam and an out of bounds on floor, and JJ had some larger form breaks on vault and bars. There has been a TON of pressure on these girls this week, it absolutely did not surprise me at all that they've had some minor falters. Hopefully now that the biggest two finals are over, they're feeling a little more relaxed._

* * *

 _ **Idk about you guys, but something seems a little off about JJ this week. I mean... all the girls seem a little tired, which is understandable because the pressure is huge, but... similar to earlier in the year, which we now know was to do with her sister, she just seems a little less bubbly and bright as she usually is? Did anyone else notice that?**_

 _\- yeah, I thought I was imagining it. Wonder if she's ok. Sounds like she's had a shit year.  
-who knows. I'm sure she's fine. I know they're in the public eye because of what they do, but these gymnasts are still people too, they are allowed to be sad and down because of things in their personal life. I don't know why the gymternet always gets so worried, y'all act like JJ is severely depressed and is the only gymnast ever who gets sad and has bad days. I mean, I'm worried about her too, but from what we can tell, she has an amazing support network in her coach, her parents, and Will, and I'm sure they're looking out for her if it's anything for major concern._

"Ooh, olympichampion just shut them down," Aly giggled as JJ scrolled further down the screen. "It's sweet that they worry about us all though"

"Yeah," JJ said softly, perusing the screen for a minute before turning to Aly. "Do you think I seem different lately?"

Aly gave her a small smile, putting an arm around her shoulders. "You seem like someone who has spent all year fighting back shit with a stick without any chance to rest, but is still working her ass off to do what she loves most," she said gently. "You found out like four days ago that your dad has cancer, JJ, it's ok to be sad about that. We can't all be like Simone all the time. Hell, I can't even be like Simone for ten minutes, it's exhausting!"

JJ laughed as Aly sank down beside her.

"You'll bounce back when everything's had a chance to sink in. In the meantime, think about how all these sweet people out there are worried about you and just want to make sure you're ok. They love you as much as I do, and they've never even met you"

Smiling, JJ looked back to the screen, where someone had just reblogged a gifset of her routines from the final the previous day. In the pictures from the medal ceremony, she was smiling, beaming even, from ear to ear. The pride she felt in herself and in her silver medal shone through relentlessly, and it was bringing back all those feelings from the previous evening in a heady rush.

"You guys were amazing," Aly said softly, breaking the silence as she noticed where JJ was looking. "You should both be very proud"

Looking up at Aly, JJ smiled again.

"I am. But I know Dad is even prouder"

* * *

With one last deep breath, JJ tapped the 'Post' button, effectively sending out the Instagram post she'd been mulling over for the better part of an hour.

It was a photo of her and her dad, taken the day she'd been named to the Olympic team. There were tears in their eyes, her dad's embrace tight around her, but their smiles and joy were unparalleled.

 _ **I've noticed the past few days that everyone seems a little concerned about me, so I've decided to clear the air. It's been a pretty rough year for me personally. Since Christmas, I've been dealing with a touch of anxiety, something that hasn't been an issue for me since I was about twelve or thirteen. Initially, I had no idea why I felt so out of sorts, but I later realised it was because the ten year anniversary of my sister's death was this year. Coupled with will_lamontagne and I going through a rough patch at the end of January, and my year just didn't get off to an amazing start. I'm sure by now, most of you will have seen the Blackbird campaign I joined where I talked about what happened to my family in 2005. Something like that never really goes away, and I've honestly only just gotten over the cusp of it now.**_

 _ **Then Classics and Nationals happened. I wasn't majorly traumatised or anything by my mistakes and falls at these meets, but I was disappointed in myself because I know I can perform much better than that.**_

 _ **But just a few days ago, something happened that has truly changed my world as I know it. The night before the team final, I called home to check in because my dad hasn't been very well. What I learned during that phone call is that my dad, my absolute biggest cheerleader, has been diagnosed with stage four cancer. It's the worst news I've received, and to receive when I'm away at Worlds was even worse. But you know something? Yes, I may seem down, I may seem a little sad. That's ok. I'm still going to go out there and absolutely kill it because my dad wouldn't want me to do anything less. He's at home cheering for me on NBC, and I want to go out in my remaining finals and perform for him, because it makes him so happy to see me competing for my country. He has always been and will always be my biggest supporter. Every one of my victories is his victory too.**_

 _ **Thank you all for showing concern. It means a lot that so many people I've never met care so much about me. I really am ok, I just have a lot going on and it's a lot to take in. Please send strength and love for my dad. We're going to need it.**_

Less than five minutes later, her phone lit up with notifications from both Twitter and Instagram. Opening Twitter, JJ was touched to see the things people were saying to her.

 **gymrudestics: JJ, we're all thinking of you and know you're gonna kill it for your dad! So sorry to hear his diagnosis *heart***

Biting her lip to fight back the lump in her throat, JJ tapped on the tweet, liking it, before typing out a quick reply.

 **Thank you so much, it really does mean a lot. Just keep sending positive vibes our way *heart***

Continuing on, JJ read through and liked a few more of the tweets, before taking a deep breath and rising from where she was sitting on the bed.

A weight off her shoulders and some strength at her back.

Just like her dad had said... everything was going to be just fine.


	82. Chapter 82

**A/N: Isa and I have been having a ball figuring out the social media elements of the story!**

* * *

The first day of event finals had not gone badly for the Americans, with the girls picking up two more medals for their efforts; Simone had taken bronze on vault, while Madison had claimed a world title on bars in the most bizarre four way tie ever. She had shared her gold medal with the two Russians, Viktoria Komova and Daria Spiridonova, as well as Fan Yilin of China.

Had rankings not mattered and medals were awarded based on scores, JJ would have taken another silver medal in the bars final, but seeing as four gymnasts were above her rankings wise, she had left the final empty handed. But she wasn't discouraged; her bars score had drastically improved from her minor flub in the all-around final, and clearly she was still able to hold her own with the best of the best.

As for vault, she had not managed to scrape a medal out there either; Maria Paseka and Hong un-Jong both carried higher difficulty, while Simone almost always outscored her in execution on the event, meaning she had finished fifth overall. But again, she didn't find it discouraging. Rather, just something to work on for the next nine months in the lead up to the Olympics.

Now it was time for JJ and Simone to take on the second day of event finals.

Having waited patiently for her turn to come, JJ would be the last performer on beam. So far, Simone had led the pack, with Sanne Wevers of the Netherlands and Pauline Schafer of Germany hanging onto silver and bronze behind her.

Taking a deep breath to settle herself as her name was announced to the crowd, JJ presented to the judges. Readying herself for her mount, she narrowed her focus down onto the beam.

She wasted no time in mounting, her feet easily finding the surface of her favoured apparatus. Using her choreography to move slightly forward, she immediately swung back into a standing Arabian, landing it easily as if she were on the floor.

'Onodi... front aerial... front aerial,' she thought to herself as she worked through the motions of her routine. Not a wobble to be seen.

Some more dance, a half turn... followed by her front tuck to wolf jump connection, this time connected with no problems.

Breathing deeply, she settled herself before swinging back into her series, the hardest element of her routine.

'Flip... flip... layout FULL,' she said in her head, planting her feet down onto the beam without question.

Her few remaining dance elements were completed with ease and then it was just her dismount left to go.

'Just put it to your feet JJ,' she reminded herself. The arena was almost dead silent.

Flip, flip, and up she rocketed off the end of the beam, wrapping in her signature dismount so easily that she was able to completely stick the landing. The second she'd landed, her chest upright, the arena had exploded into applause as a huge smile crossed JJ's face.

She knew.

She was world champion yet again.

* * *

With their newest additions safely tucked in their backpacks, Simone and JJ had re-entered the arena just under an hour later to take part in the floor final to close off the 2015 World Championships.

It had been a bittersweet ending. As much as JJ was wanting to go out and perform well to make her dad proud, she was emotionally exhausted after the rollercoaster of a week she had endured. She was more than ready to go home and see her family again after so long away from them.

Simone was also not her brightest self. Under an immense load of pressure all year to repeat again as world all-around champion (which she had now done), she had spent most of the week in a more sombre mood than usual. But even since the all-around, when the pressure had since lessened, JJ had noticed Simone was not as chirpy as usual. Putting it down to being tired and ready to go home (as they all were), she had brushed it off.

The floor final had seen another 1-2 success for the Americans. Simone had taken her third gold medal of the Worlds, and her thirteenth World medal overall, repeating as the three time World champion on floor. With another stellar routine, JJ had been right behind her for silver, and Ksenia Afanasyeva of Russia, the 2011 World Champion on floor, had taken bronze.

And so it was that they had wrapped up their World Championships with a handful of medals to add to the United States' glowing resume. With it being the last Worlds before the Rio Olympics, talk had already started of what the USA had achieved all quad, and what they could be expected to achieve in the following year at the Games.

With her threepeats in Glasgow, Simone had, in three world competitions, netted herself thirteen medals, eight of them gold. She was clearly one of the best the United States had ever produced, and talk was already beginning of what heights the tiny powerhouse would soar to in Rio.

JJ, on the other hand, had smashed the domestic record for international medals, bringing her total up to 21 World and Olympic medals overall. She only held seven world titles to Simone's eight, but her two Olympic titles brought it up to nine, cementing her place as the continued most decorated gymnast from the United States.

Now, all they had left to do was head back home. And once they arrived home?

It was time to start preparing for the Olympic Games.


	83. Chapter 83

**A/N: Who's excited for 2016?**

* * *

 _ **FOUR. TIME. WORLD. BEAM. CHAMPION.**_

 _(Yes, this is literally the whole question) I KNOW RIGHT! She's so good, I love it. Can't wait for her to dominate the beam final next year and win her second Olympic title (no pressure!). Seriously though, when do we start crowdfunding to buy JJ a crown that says Beam Queen because GIRL NEEDS ONE._

 _On an actual more incredible note, JJ is the first gymnast ever to hold more than two world beam titles AND to hold them consecutively along with the most recent Olympic title, so that is seriously impressive._

 _ **Simone won again but this time she had JJ right on her heels! Do you think JJ can beat Simone?**_

 _I don't know to be honest. They both had mistakes in the all-around, and, in fact, I don't think they've ever been in an all-around competition together where one of them didn't make a mistake so it's hard to gauge. I think anything's possible, although Simone is probably the one of the two who's more likely to win. Both of them have some upgrading and cleaning up to do. We'll probably better be able to judge next season._

 _ **What was the deal with JJ at Worlds? She didn't seem very happy even though she had a great week.**_

 _You probably missed it or you may know by now; JJ's father was diagnosed with cancer while JJ was in Glasgow, and she found out the night before the team final. She did have a great meet, but in the grand scheme of things, a handful of medals at Worlds just doesn't take away the pain of a loved one fighting cancer._

 _ **Do you think JJ's going to stick around next year now that her dad isn't well? She's always spoken about how close she is to her dad, she seems like the kind of person who would want to be with him through all of this.**_

 _Hmm... I actually can't say I have a definitive answer for this. JJ is a very private person compared to a lot of the other girls, and it's really hard to tell what she's going to do unless you actually see her walk out into the competition arena. You're right in saying that she's very close to her dad, she speaks very highly of her relationship with him, and I know I've heard him in the stands at Nationals cheering for her... she might not want to handle competition without knowing he's in the stands, or she might want to push through and do this for him. It's a bit of a guessing game. We'll have to wait and see._

* * *

Seeing Will in the concourse near the arrival gate had flooded JJ with a sense of relief she couldn't even describe. With no words spoken between the two of them, she'd simply walked straight into Will's arms, sinking against him as he wrapped her up tighter than he'd ever held her before.

Sensing that upon arriving home, JJ would be eager to simply spend time with her family, Nick had already bid his goodbyes at the gate, heading out of the terminal on his way to a meeting he'd arranged a few days earlier; the hunt for the assistant coach had not turned up anyone who Nick felt was right for the gym, and so he had postponed hiring anyone until after they had returned from Worlds.

"You ok?" Will finally asked after what felt like forever, gently pulling away so he could see JJ's face.

"Yeah," JJ said softly, giving him a reassuring smile. "I just want to see my dad"

"He's at the hospital today having his chemo. I can take you straight there if you like, your mom should be there too," Will said warmly, reaching down and taking her larger bag from her hands.

"Please," JJ replied, falling into step beside him as they started to walk towards the terminal exit.

Internally, JJ's stomach was churning again. She hadn't seen her dad since leaving for camp. While she was excited and relieved to be able to see him again, part of her was anxious. She'd never witnessed someone battling cancer firsthand, and even though she would never admit it, she was afraid of exactly what that was going to look like.

As they reached Will's truck, Will leant over and pressed a gentle kiss to her temple, simply reminding her that he was there for her, and he would be at her side no matter what.

Almost instantaneously, she started to feel a little better.

* * *

Everything was too white, too clean, too... medical. She hated it. She'd hated it when she dislocated her shoulder, broken her leg, and she still hated it now.

Unsure where she was supposed to go, she stood rooted to the spot, looking a little overwhelmed as she glanced between all the signs pointing to various wards. Clutched tightly in her hand were the four newest medals in her collection; she wanted to show them to her dad and put a smile on his face.

Just as Will was about to step up behind her and remind her to breathe, a kind looking nurse approached them from the nearest hallway. She had long dark hair which was pulled back in a simple ponytail, and eyes that reminded JJ of her mother.

"Are you alright?" she asked softly, a warm smile on her face.

"Uh... I don't kn... I'm looking for my dad, Michael Jareau. He's having chemo today-"

The nurse chuckled, beckoning for JJ and Will to follow her. "I know your dad. He's been keeping the whole outpatient ward entertained today"

JJ broke into a grin as Will slipped an arm around her waist. They walked side by side, following the nurse to the end of the hall and into a large open room. The room was full of wide windows that allowed plenty of light to come streaming in. Despite being in a hospital, it was warm and inviting. To their left was a small nurses station, with a few nurses milling around inside. Off to the right, the room was rather large, with comfortable armchairs everywhere they looked, at least ten of them currently occupied. If it weren't for the IV poles beside each chair and nurses moving around checking tubing, JJ wouldn't have believed it was part of the hospital.

"There's your dad over there," the nurse who'd brought them said gently, gesturing towards a chair at the back of the room.

With a hurried thank you to the nurse, JJ headed in the direction of her father's armchair. She could now see him, her mom right beside him as she flipped through a magazine.

Seeing him felt like a sharp kick in the gut; he looked a lot worse than when she'd left. He had clearly lost weight, and his skin seemed to carry a grey undertone. Add to that he was incredibly pale, and looked exhausted... JJ was starting to wonder just how she was going to keep it together.

"There she is!" came her dad's excited voice just seconds later. Breaking into a wide smile, JJ set the medals down on the small table beside the armchair, before leaning down and wrapping her arms around him in a loving embrace.

"I'm so proud of you peanut," Michael whispered.

Fighting back tears, JJ pulled away, turning to her mom and hugging her tightly as well.

"You were amazing, you all were," Sandy gushed as she gave JJ a comforting squeeze. "We watched everything"

"So this is the new hardware," Michael said as JJ pulled away from her mom, wiping her eyes as she took the other vacant seat beside his chair. Will chose to stand behind her, leaning on the back of the chair for support.

"Yeah," JJ said softly, a smile crossing her face as her dad reached over and lifted up one of the gold medals. Across the back it bore the engraving _Women's Balance Beam Champion._

"You're a little bit unbeatable, hey?" Michael chuckled, passing the gold medal to Sandy before picking up one of the silver medals as one of the nurses approached with a syringe filled with clear liquid.

"Just getting a little more anti-nausea onboard Michael," the nurse said with a smile, reaching for the tubing that JJ was only just noticing was protruding from her father's chest.

"You must be JJ," the nurse asked as she pushed the syringe into the port on the end of the tube.

"I am," JJ said with a nod.

"We've all heard plenty about you," the nurse chuckled. "I'm Angie, I'm one of your dad's primary nurses"

Reaching up, JJ shook Angie's hand. "Nice to meet you"

"So you've been away competing at the world gymnastics championships, is that right?" Angie asked as she cleared away the medical waste that had accumulated on the shelving behind Michael's chair. "Your dad's been keeping everyone up to date"

JJ looked at her dad with a grin, shaking her head slightly as Sandy laughed.

"I think Dad would tell a squirrel about my gymnastics if it stood still long enough," she laughed.

"I'm just proud," Michael scoffed. "How many people can say their daughter is the most decorated gymnast in America?"

"It's kind of funny actually that I've ended up looking after your dad, because I have a little six year old girl, Isabella, and she does gymnastics, and honestly, some days, you're all I ever hear about," Angie chuckled. "She adores you"

JJ beamed. "That's so sweet. I'll have to bring you some signed things for her"

"She would probably pass out from joy," Angie laughed. "She's my crazy girl"

Despite the heartache she'd endured while she had been away, and despite how ill her dad looked, JJ couldn't help but start to feel as if things were definitely going to be ok. Her dad was in good spirits, and was in even better hands with the staff at the hospital.

Surely it wasn't all doom and gloom.


	84. Chapter 84

**A/N: Ending didn't come to me very well, so it's kind of cut off.**

* * *

Before JJ knew it, it was the end of November. Snow had reached Pennsylvania, and Christmas preparations were well underway.

Her brother and his wife had joined them in Pittsburgh shortly after JJ arrived home from Worlds, wanting to spend some time with Michael and see that he was managing treatment. Which he was; even when the chemo made him feel awful, he still managed to keep his spirits up.

With all the craziness, JJ had only just noticed that something had changed with herself; during Worlds, she had been vaguely aware of the fact that she was suffering from dull headaches and had had to make the text larger on her phone to stop her eyes hurting. It hadn't even registered with her due to all the stress of the competition, but upon arriving home, she had realised the difference. A trip to the optometrist had unearthed the cause of the problem; hyperopia, or long sightedness, which required corrective glasses for doing tasks up close, like reading, writing, using her phone, etc.

Having only picked up the glasses that morning, JJ was wandering around the house in the midst of the comings and goings, unsure of how she felt about her new accessory.

Sipping on the hot cup of coffee she'd just brewed for herself, Sandy smiled as JJ walked into the kitchen, toying the frames in her hands.

"Not sure?" she chuckled, setting her cup down.

"It feels so strange. I know it's only for reading and things, but it just feels weird. They make me look like a fly," JJ said dryly.

Sandy laughed, shaking her head as she stepped forward.

"No they don't, JJ, you're just not used to seeing yourself wearing them," she said, clearly amused. Reaching out, she took the frames from JJ's hands, lifting them to JJ's face and slipping them back on gently.

"You look fine," she said with a smile. "They actually suit you"

"Hey Mom, hey JJ, we're back, and we're going out again, oh, and Will's here," was Jason's hurried greeting as he raced in and back out of the kitchen, Katie hovering out in the hallway. Sandy chuckled as she watched her son take off, seconds before Will came into the room.

"I would say good morning, but it's almost lunchtime," he said lightly as he walked in.

Hearing his voice, JJ turned.

"Oh hey, they're new!" Will said in surprise when he saw JJ's glasses, getting a laugh out of Sandy. "I'm guessing that optometrist appointment didn't quite go how you thought it would"

"No, my eyes have crapped out on me," JJ said with a grin. "Apparently I'm long sighted, so I need these for reading. It's only minor, so only a weak prescription... but I'm trying to decide how much I hate them"

Will grinned, lifting a hand to tuck JJ's hair back from her face as Sandy moved over to the coffee machine to make the young couple a coffee each.

"You still look beautiful," Will said sincerely. "They suit you"

"See?" Sandy said over her shoulder. "I'm not the only one who thinks so!"

"You're both biased as all hell though," JJ laughed. "But thank you"

Taking them off, she set them down beside her phone as Will leant against the counter beside her.

"How's Michael doing?" Will asked as he looked over to Sandy, who had turned back to face them after setting the machine.

Sandy shrugged. "Good days and bad days. The chemo makes him feel terrible, but somehow he's still up and about most of the time. He's still in good spirits, so the rest of us are staying the same"

Looking down at the bench top before her as her mother talked, JJ's thoughts drifted back to the day she'd come home from Glasgow. After finding herself coming to terms with their family's new predicament in the hospital, upon arriving home, she had found that all changing.

" _So what's actually going on Dad, what have the doctors been saying?" JJ asked as her dad made himself comfortable in his favourite armchair._

 _Michael scoffed, waving a hand towards her. "We can get to that later, tell me about Worlds!"_

 _She'd been trying to get the full story out of her dad all day, but to no avail. Her voice starting to rise in frustration, she gave him a pointed look. "Same as the last four, Dad, please don't avoid it-"_

" _I'm not, JJ, you just got home from the World Championships and I want to hear all about it," Michael cut in._

" _I don't want to talk about Worlds, I want you to treat me like an adult and tell me what's going on!" JJ yelled, immediately bursting into tears as the tension disappeared from her body language. "You were diagnosed with cancer, Dad, and I deserve to know what's happening to you. All I thought about during Worlds was if you were ok. Do you know what even happened after you told me? I just cried, Dad, because I was scared and didn't know what was going on. Marta even gave me the option of going HOME because I was that upset. I just want you to realise I'm an adult too, I have the capability to understand what's happening to you, and I have the right to know"_

" _JJ," Michael said softly, rising from his chair and approaching his daughter. "I'm not trying to shut you out, and I'm not trying to keep things from you. I'm sorry this is hurting you, but don't cry. It's not worth our tears"_

 _JJ let out a weak sob as he pulled her into a hug, clutching at him for the comfort she'd been longing for the entire time they'd been in Glasgow._

" _It's not good... but it's not terrible either," Michael said gently as he pulled back and brushed JJ's hair out of her eyes. "Radiation, chemotherapy, and maybe surgery is the plan of action. The doctor is hopeful that we've caught it in time, and if we have no major hiccups during treatment, I should be cancer free by May... just in time to get healthy to hopefully travel to Rio in August"_

" _Don't talk about Rio," JJ whispered through diminishing sobs. "I don't even want to think about it"_

"I did actually come over here for a reason, I'm not just here to scab a free coffee," Will said with a grin, breaking JJ from her thoughts as Sandy placed the aforementioned coffees down in front of them.

"Oh yeah? You need a reason to come here other than seeing me?" JJ said with a cheeky smile. Will chuckled.

"Seeing you is more than enough, but I honestly do have another reason for coming over," he said, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a piece of paper. Setting it down on the counter, he pushed it towards JJ.

"I wasn't going to tell you and just surprise you when the time came, but I figured after the last few weeks, it might be nice for you to have something to look forward to," he said gently.

Confused, JJ picked up the piece of paper, opening it and scanning it quickly. Moments later, she looked up sharply, a smile spreading across her face.

"We're going to New York?" she asked, a hint of excitement in her voice.

"For a few days next weekend," Will affirmed, still smiling. "Our Christmas present from my mom and dad"

"They didn't have to do that," JJ said, setting the paper down on the bench.

"They wanted to," Will assured her. "When I spoke to them last week, I mentioned that it hadn't been the easiest year for you, and they wanted to do something like this for us anyway"

JJ smiled. "Well, I'm excited. Please tell them I said thank you"

"Will do," Will affirmed with a handsome grin.

"Should be snowing in New York by the time you get there," Sandy said. "With any luck, you might get a few extra days?"

JJ laughed. "One can only dream"

* * *

 _ **Do you think Sanne Wevers has a shot at the Olympic beam title next year? We know JJ and Simone are good, but Sanne definitely has potential!**_

 _Yes, Sanne definitely does have the potential to take an outside shot at an Olympic medal, but I wouldn't go as far as to say it's an outside shot for gold. Between JJ and Simone, granted they stay healthy and make the team, I think beam gold and silver are almost locked down to the US. I say almost because Simone is the only real question mark of the two; she's amazing and scores excellently when she's on, but when she's tired or under a lot of stress, beam is where she makes mistakes, and you have to take into consideration that beam will most likely be at the end of the artistic program in Rio. As for JJ, well, she's pretty much always on, and when she's on, a high 15 is no big deal for her to reach. We haven't seen anyone outscore her on beam since 2011; she's literally topped beam in qualifications, team, all-around, and beam finals at every major competition she's attended since then, so for Sanne to shoot for gold, she'll have to pull out everything she's got._

 _ **Why didn't JJ get a silver medal for bars at Worlds?**_

 _Because in terms of rankings, she was fifth. When the rankings are released for finals, everyone is ranked according to how many gymnasts competed in the final. For an event final, that's eight gymnasts. When there is a tie at the top, as there was in Glasgow, the number of gymnasts who tied basically eats up the equivalent number of ranking places. Four gymnasts tied for gold, meaning that technically, four gymnasts placed above JJ for three possible placings. Hence why she didn't receive a medal. If it was done based on scores alone, she would have won a medal, but that literally would have been a bizarre podium haha. Well. More bizarre than it already was._

 _ **If the Olympics had been last month, who would you have had on the team out of the Worlds team?**_

 _Without a doubt, JJ, Simone, Maggie Nichols, and Madison Kocian would've been on the team. The last spot, probably Aly; I know she was a mess in Glasgow, but we know what she's capable of and she absolutely killed it in team finals._

* * *

Having uploaded a picture to Instagram with her new glasses, JJ was absently fielding through a flurry of comments as she and Will lay in bed watching _Orange is the New Black_.

 **gymrudestics: ok jj_jareau94 looks adorable in glasses, but hopefully they don't become needed for her gymnastics!**

Grinning, JJ tapped reply.

 **Thanks! Don't worry... don't need them to see the beam just yet. Give it another ten years *laughing face***

"You know, you really were incredible at Worlds," Will said softly, catching JJ's attention.

Locking her phone and setting it down beside her, she turned to look at him.

"Thanks, but... I could've done so much better," she replied, smiling.

"Maybe you could've done better, but you still won four medals. It still blows me away every time I watch you compete, I'm like... 'that's really my girlfriend'"

JJ laughed, draping an arm over his stomach as she cuddled up beside him, resting her head on his chest.

"I have no idea what the next year is going to be like, but promise me one thing JJ"

"What's that?" JJ asked, lifting her head to look at him again.

"Don't ever change," Will said with a smile, kissing the top of her head. "Not only are you amazing as an athlete, but as a person too. Like I said, I don't know what the Olympic selection process is like, but I can guess it's pretty intense. Don't let it change who you are... because I love who you are"

Smiling, JJ nodded, stretching up to kiss him briefly.

"I promise"


	85. Chapter 85

**A/N: Sorry this took so long. I envisioned the last scene being much better, but that was all my brain could produce!**

* * *

"Hey Will, is it alright if I have a minute to chat with JJ?" Jason asked, looking over his shoulder at the young couple in the backseat.

"Sure. I'll get our bags out," Will obliged, opening the door and exiting the car. Jason put the car in park and turned to face JJ, who had now sat forward, her elbows resting on her knees as she waited to see what Jason wanted to say.

"I know you're putting on a bit of a brave face about what's going on with Dad," he said gently. "Not that it's a bad thing, but... I know what you're like-"

"Jase... I'm fine," JJ replied, holding out a hand to her brother to stop him. "I had my meltdown at Worlds... I've seen that Dad is doing ok. Really... I'm fine"

"Ok, but I just want you to take care of yourself," Jason said sincerely. "It won't do anyone any good if you just push away anything that isn't a smile"

Reaching forward, JJ patted her brother's shoulder. "It's ok, Jase. Don't worry about me"

Sighing, Jason managed a smile. "Just promise me something, ok?"

"Ok," JJ said softly.

"Everything that's going on... please don't keep your feelings about it pushed way down inside you... it's not healthy. Have enough trust to open up to someone... it's the only way you of all people are going to keep it together," Jason said.

Smiling, JJ leaned forward, pressing a kiss to her brother's cheek.

"I'll be ok. Don't worry about me"

And with that, she slid out of the car, waving to her brother as she joined Will on the path. Pulling her jacket tighter around herself against the bitter wind, she took her case in her hand, turning and heading into the terminal with Will at her side.

* * *

 _ **New York, New York, how I've missed you! #newyork #beautiful #lovethiscity**_

"Hey Will"

After the short flight and a quick change of clothes upon arrival, the two had immediately set out to explore the city. Will had never been to New York, while JJ had only been once after the Olympics; every other time, she'd been passing through. So they were both excited to get out and enjoy their time away.

Turning around from the small area of Central Park he was currently admiring, Will found JJ standing on a low limestone wall, a mischievous grin on her face.

"You're like a child, as soon as my back is turned, you climb the nearest thing you can find," he laughed, taking a photo of her standing there on his phone.

"Would a child do this?" she asked, before swinging her arms back and then up into a standing back tuck. Her feet easily found purchase on the wall again as Will exhaled heavily.

"Why is it your mission in life to give me five million heart attacks? You know Nick would kill you if he saw you doing that!" he exclaimed as she jumped off and walked over to him, laughing as she did.

"What Nick doesn't know won't hurt him," she giggled, looping her arms around Will's waist. Will grinned, kissing her forehead lovingly.

Sliding an arm around her back, Will smiled as they started to walk down the path through the park, arm in arm, happy and content. Even if she was a little crazy, he loved spending time like this with his girl.

* * *

Shivering slightly as a cold gust of air blew through the foyer of the gym, Nick turned to see who had come through the front doors. The familiar sounds of kids training in gymnastics filled the air around him, creating a sense of warmth despite the wintery air.

When he turned, he found a young woman looking around curiously, a small smile on her face. She looked to be no older than thirty, with long dark hair that was pulled back neatly into a ponytail. He _was_ waiting for a coaching candidate to arrive for an interview... maybe this was her.

"Hi," Nick said warmly, walking towards her. "Can I help you?"

"I'm looking for Nicholas Romero?" she replied, confidence in her voice. "I'm Teagan Carter, I have an interview today"

Nick smiled, extending his hand. "Nice to meet you Teagan. I'm Nicholas. Or just Nick"

Teagan beamed. "Nice to meet you too"

"Why don't we head into my office and then we can discuss the position?" Nick suggested, gesturing towards the offices. Teagan nodded, following as he led her down the short hallway to his office, situated at the end.

"Take a seat," Nick said as they entered the room, closing the door behind them before heading over to his desk and taking the seat behind it.

"So, you're interested in the level 10/elite coaching position?" he asked once they were both settled.

Teagan nodded. "Greatly interested"

"Have you ever coached elite before?" Nick asked.

"Not properly, if that's the right word. I have worked in gyms in the past that have great elite programs, but I've mostly worked with level tens, with a little bit of elite coaching every now and then. I'm a quick learner though, and I'm looking for something new in terms of my coaching," Teagan replied honestly.

Nick nodded, scanning the file before him. "You've worked at GAGE, that's great, Al Fong is a brilliant person to learn from. Short stint at Texas Dreams... Liberty Gymnastics in Jersey... that's a lot of moving around"

"I know. My husband's job required us to move quite a bit. However, this position and location he is in is now permanent. I wouldn't have applied otherwise"

"I like to hear that," Nick chuckled, setting the file down and leaning forward, his hands clasped together. "What made you want to apply for this position?"

"I've been looking for a position that requires some elite coaching for some time. I like a challenge, and I want to push myself as a coach to produce better results for the kids I'm working with. And that aside... you have a great reputation, and I think I could learn a lot from you"

Nick broke into a flattered smile.

"Your experience is great, and I think you would do really well with my current group of level 10s. I personally think you'll do very well if I give you the position, but before I do, I want to give you a trial week with the level ten girls... just to see how you go and how they respond to you. I also want you to meet with JJ, my senior elite, before we go any further. Seeing as you will eventually be working with the elite program here as well, I want to make sure you and JJ work well together before I make anything final. The next year is going to be pretty stressful for all of us, and I want to make everything as easy as possible," Nick explained.

"I completely understand"

"Great," Nick said, smiling warmly. "JJ's in New York at the moment, but she'll be back next week, so I'll arrange a time that works for all of us when she's back, and we'll go from there"

"Sounds great!" Teagan said enthusiastically.

"Do you have any questions?" Nick asked.

"Two... what would be your expectations of me if I were given this position?"

Sitting back in his chair, Nick allowed a small smile to creep onto his face. Teagan was on the ball already, and he liked that.

"At Romero's, our biggest value is that we always provide a safe, happy, and healthy environment for the kids to learn in. It is our biggest expectation of you that you work to exemplify that in every aspect of your work. Having a kid who's capable of going to the Olympics is great... but if they're miserable, it's not worth it. We also expect you to present yourself well, be committed to your athletes and to us, and to work hard. Judging by your resume... you enjoy what you do, so none of that should be a problem"

Teagan nodded, smiling in agreement.

"What was your other question?"

"What's JJ like?" she asked warmly. "I've never worked with a senior elite gymnast... I mean, I've worked at gyms with amazing reputations for producing elites, but I've never actually worked with a girl who's been an elite"

Nick smiled. "JJ is actually pretty easy to coach. Sometimes she can be a handful, but it's not very often. She comes across quite shy, but she's headstrong and stubborn when she wants to be. She knows what she wants and she'll put in the work to get it... at this level, she has all her skills. She really only needs a motivator at this point"

Taking a deep breath, he sat up a little straighter. "This year has been rough for her, which has made things a little difficult, but nonetheless... she wants Rio and she's worked her ass off to get this far. I think you'll find it an easy transition from coaching level ten to coaching elite if you work with JJ first off"

Teagan smiled. "Well, I'm looking forward to hopefully going further"

As they both rose up from their chairs. Nick extended his hand again, which Teagan accepted.

"Thanks for coming in and making this the easiest interview yet," Nick chuckled as they walked towards the door.

"The pleasure's all mine," Teagan replied, stepping through the door and out into the hallway. Nick followed just behind, walking her back towards the front door. Thanking her again, he bid her goodbye with the promise that he would be in touch, before turning back to the gym floor to rejoin his group.

Teagan was a promising candidate. He only hoped she and JJ would work well together, because from what he could tell, she was going to be a wonderful addition to his coaching team.

* * *

They were wrapped up in each other, every movement of their bodies creating more heat, more passion despite the cold air in the room.

Letting out a breathy moan as Will bent his head and kissed her neck, JJ lifted her legs, wrapping them around Will's waist to pull him even closer.

Slowing for just a moment, Will pressed a deep kiss to JJ's lips, which she briefly reciprocated before a quiet gasp of pleasure escaped her.

Entwined together, skin slick with sweat, they moved with passion... hunger... intense need.

It seemed almost perfect.

What felt like just moments later, Will was thrown completely off guard when JJ burst into tears, her body going totally limp beneath him as tears flooded down her cheeks with vigour.

She'd shed tears post coitus before, something Will was now quite accustomed to, but this was completely different. They had still been in the middle of the moment... and something about these tears screamed to Will that it wasn't the overwhelming emotion of the moment making her cry.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," she sobbed as Will slipped out of her and pulled her hurriedly into his arms. Almost immediately, she tried to push him away, choking back sobs as she turned away from him and grabbed her shirt and her underwear from the end of the bed.

"JJ," Will said softly, incredibly concerned about her sudden change of state.

Ignoring his words, JJ pulled the shirt over her head with shaking hands, her head bent down towards her lap as her body trembled with the sudden onslaught of emotion.

"JJ, talk to me," Will said, pushing himself all the way up until he was sitting just behind her.

Once she had her underwear on, JJ made to get up and head for the bathroom. Quick as a flash, Will reached out and grabbed her hand.

"Don't do this," he said, gently pulling her back down to sit on the mattress.

"Do what?" JJ asked through her tears.

"Go all quiet. Push me away," Will replied, shuffling closer to her. "You're hurting, babe, what's going on?"

"I'm fine," JJ said as defiantly as she could manage while tears were still dripping down her cheeks.

"No, you're not," Will pushed gently, moving to her side so he could see her face. Putting an arm around her shoulders, he brushed her hair out of her face. Her cheeks were still flushed with pink from their lovemaking, but her skin was now wet with tears.

"I'm sorry," JJ breathed, starting to cry even more as Will pulled her into a tight hug. She folded, relaxing into his arms as he held her and comforted her in the way only he knew how.

"Please don't apologise for being upset," Will said softly, his voice cracking slightly as he gently rubbed her back. "If you need to cry, I'm not going to judge you for it"

Silence fell between them. Sensing that JJ's defenses had weakened, Will carefully guided her back beneath the sheets, pulling the blankets over the both of them as they lay down, all the while keeping a comforting, protective arm around JJ.

It felt like forever they spent laying there in silence before JJ spoke again, her voice muffled against Will's chest.

"I hate my life right now," she said, her tear filled voice barely louder than a whisper.

"Oh JJ," Will breathed, his heart aching as the pain of JJ's words hit him. "Is this about your dad?"

"Everything," JJ choked out. "It's about everything"

"You've had a shit year, I get it," Will said, tenderly kissing her temple. "I won't even lie, anyone with eyes can see that 2015 for you has just been, as the British would say, proper shite"

JJ let out a weak giggle at his little attempt at humor.

"You have to try and see the silver linings wherever you can, beautiful. Especially when it feels like you're drowning in crap. So it's been ten years since Rosaline died… look at everything you've achieved in those ten years. She'd be so proud of you Jay, I know she would. And your dad, well, I know it's hard to find a silver lining when someone you love has cancer… but I feel like cancer absolutely has picked a fight with the wrong person, because your dad could be in hospital, in a coma, on life support, and he'd still get up to watch you compete"

JJ had to manage a laugh; as Nick had said in the past, the house could be burning down around the TV set, and her dad would still be watching the gymnastics.

By now, her tears had mostly subsided, aided by Will's comforting words and gestures. Sometimes, she wondered where on earth she'd be without him.

"It just… for some reason, the reality of the fact that Dad is sick… hit me just now. It all just hurts, it's painful and exhausting and I feel so broken and messed up all the time… I don't feel like… me anymore"

"You're still you," Will reassured her. "You're still the insanely talented girl who has a heart of gold and a killer sense of humor that would make even the stoniest of people laugh. You're still you… you've just experienced a huge range of emotions in the span of a few months, and I'd imagine it's changing how you react to things"

JJ said nothing, cuddling even closer to Will as he traced gentle circles on the back of her shoulder with his thumb.

"I'm sorry I started crying," she said after a short silence.

"I've told you not to apologise for what you feel," Will replied softly. "So you started crying in the middle of having sex… I'm sure you're not the only person who's ever done it. And we'll be able to laugh about it in a few months time"

JJ fought back an embarrassed grin, burying her face in the pillow as Will chuckled.

"Get some sleep my girl," he said warmly, kissing her temple again. "Try not to worry about your dad, or any of the other shit that's been piling up on you. These few days are for you to escape all of that and just enjoy yourself for a while. So get some sleep, and then tomorrow, it's a new day"

"I love you," JJ breathed, lifting her tear stained face up to look at Will.

He smiled, kissing her lips briefly.

"I love you too"


	86. Chapter 86

**A/N: It's been such a stressful week, I'm sorry I didn't update sooner!**

* * *

Used to rising early for training, JJ was the first to wake the following morning. Warm and cosy beneath the soft blankets, she lay completely still for a moment, keeping her eyes closed as she savoured her still sleepy state.

Even thought she was half asleep, a part of her was still embarrassed about what had happened the night before. While she knew the last year had led to her emotions being much more volatile than usual, she was a little ashamed that she hadn't been able to keep it under control the previous evening.

But the other part of her knew that Will's response had been genuine; she'd broken down in front of him enough times to know that his first priority would always be to make sure she was alright. As awful as it had felt to have a meltdown in the middle of what should have been nothing but love, she knew there was no judgement.

Rolling onto her side, she reached out and grabbed her phone from the bedside table. At the top of the screen was a message from her dad, which she immediately opened.

 _ **Hope you enjoyed your first day in New York sweetheart, and you're not worrying about your old dad too much. I just thought I'd check in and let you know everything back here is completely fine; your mom runs a tight ship *laughing emoji*. Enjoy your time away, ok, because I want to hear all about it when you get home. I love you kiddo!**_

Smiling, JJ sent back a quick reply, before setting her phone back down and turning back towards Will. He was still asleep, lying on his back with one arm draped up above his head.

Shuffling closer, JJ tucked her head into the crook of his neck, draping an arm across his stomach as she cuddled up against him.

The gentle movement was enough for him to start to stir, his eyes slowly opening to the soft light filtering into the room through the gap in the curtains.

"Oh... hey," he said groggily, rubbing his eyes as he looped an arm around JJ's shoulders.

"Hey," JJ said softly, a small smile crossing her face. "How'd you sleep?"

"Like a baby," Will chuckled. "You?"

"About the same," JJ replied.

Comfortable silence washed over them for a minute, before Will spoke again.

"You ok? After last night, I mean," he asked gently.

Taking a deep breath, JJ nodded. "Yeah... I think so... but I don't want to talk about it"

"Ok," Will said softly, tracing gentle circles on her upper back with his thumb. "How about we go and get some breakfast? Then we can decide what we want to do today"

"Sounds good to me," JJ replied, throwing the covers back and leaping out of the bed. "I call dibs on first shower!"

Will laughed, sitting up. "Don't take too long, or I'll be in there with you!"

JJ laughed as she disappeared into the bathroom, and as small as it was, after her tears the previous evening, Will was just glad to see her smiling.

* * *

 _ **At this point, what medals do you think the US team will be eligible to take next summer in Rio?**_

 _Well, it really depends on who makes the team, but quite honestly, as long as that team has Simone Biles, Jennifer Jareau, and a bars worker, they'll be apt to win eleven out of eleven potential medals. And yes, that's me saying JJ can win a bars medal next year. People keep saying she's not good on bars (stop listening to Tim Daggett), but she's literally medalled on bars every year since 2012 except for this year, and the only reason she didn't this year was because of tie technicality. She could quite easily go to Rio and come home with six medals, Simone can easily come home with five, plus a bars worker to fill the gap Simone leaves (likely Kocian or Locklear I would imagine, unless a new senior explodes next year with a 7.5 bars set that Marta can't leave behind). Now, the only final that really has a question mark IS bars; JJ is good, and she's a definite contender, but bars have been getting quite deep these past few years, so we'll have to see who ends up in the final and then see._

 _This all is dependent on who the heck makes our team though!_

 _ **Do you think JJ's starting to burn out?**_

 _I don't think so. She's still upgrading (and still ROCKING those upgrades) and getting better each year, I don't think we've seen her hit her peak yet! If anything is going to come between her and Rio, I don't think it'll be burn out... I think it'll be her dad's illness. But don't take that as a prediction; that's literally just my thoughts on the matter._

* * *

"Wow that's high," Will breathed as he looked tentatively over the edge.

After a delicious breakfast at the cafe across from their hotel, they had made their way out to the Empire State Building. By some stroke of luck, they found themselves with a shorter queue, and had only had to wait twenty minutes before being let up to the observation platform.

"I didn't think you were afraid of heights," JJ giggled, leaning against the concrete barrier.

"I'm not," Will said defiantly, despite the fact he was clutching the metal guard rail for dear life. "I'm just... afraid of being an extended distance from the ground"

JJ laughed, walking forward and looping her arms around Will's waist. "I'll keep you safe, I promise"

"You better," Will replied seriously, glancing over to the edge again. "If I die, my dad will kill you"

"He'd adopt me in your place," JJ teased.

Will pretended to look shocked. "Now that's just rude"

Laughing, JJ turned them so they were both looking out over the skyline of New York.

"Look at that... isn't it amazing?"

Sucking up his fear, Will relaxed slightly, shifting so he could drape an arm around JJ's shoulders.

As high up as it was, the view really was incredible. And he was glad that the first time he witnessed it was with his beautiful girl.

The only thing that made it better was the beautiful, happy smile on her face.


	87. Chapter 87

**A/N: Man, I have been stressed AF. I wanted the ending conversation to be longer and deeper but I'm kinda eager to move this along, so here it is.**

* * *

"Oh my god, you're Jennifer Jareau!"

Much to JJ's surprise, they had made it through their trip to New York with only one fan encounter; a little girl in a bakery had tripped over her own feet in surprise when JJ walked in, and had been completely starstruck when JJ helped her back up.

But now, on their last day, as they were walking back through Central Park on the way to the hotel, clearly they were about to have another one.

Turning with a grin towards the sound of the voice, JJ found a young man, probably no older than nineteen or twenty, walking towards her. He was beaming from ear to ear, a spring of excitement in every step as he approached them.

"Sorry, hi, I just got a bit excited, I'm a huge fan!" he said hurriedly, making JJ laugh.

"It's ok," she chuckled. "Most of my fans are eight year old girls, so this is a nice change"

The guy laughed. "Well, I'm Ryan, and it is _so_ nice to meet you"

"It's nice to meet you too Ryan," JJ chuckled. "Oh, and this is Will"

Will reached out, shaking Ryan's hand, smiling warmly.

"You look so much taller in photos!" Ryan exclaimed, making the two of them laugh.

"I think that has more to do with JJ looking taller than she actually is unless you're standing beside her," Will laughed, getting an eyeroll from JJ.

"Ah, this is so exciting," Ryan said breathlessly, making JJ giggle. "I actually went to Scotland to watch Worlds last year and I was like 'this is probably the closest I'll ever get to actually meeting any of these awesome girls', and now here I am, standing in Central Park with the most decorated gymnast in America"

JJ had to laugh.

"That's very sweet of you, but I promise we're normal people too," she giggled.

"Honey, anyone who can flip like you and Simone is the exact opposite of normal," Ryan said seriously, making JJ dissolve into laughter as Will nodded in ecstatic agreement.

"Simone is pretty insane, I will admit," JJ laughed.

"What's it like to compete with her?" Ryan asked.

"It used to be intimidating as hell, because she's so good you just can't win, but now it's just a breeze. The one thing I do hold over her though is that she hasn't beaten me on beam yet," JJ said with a grin. "And I don't plan on letting her"

Ryan laughed. "In team drama, nice, nice"

"Have you done gymnastics?" JJ asked.

"I do adult recreational classes, but nothing serious. I just learned a front aerial last week, which is exciting," Ryan said proudly.

"Nice!" JJ exclaimed, lifting a hand to get a high five out of Ryan, who by now, was positively beaming from ear to ear.

"I'm actually studying at the moment though, with the hope of going into sports journalism and more specifically, elite gymnastics, since we gymnastics fans definitely feel the coverage is lacking"

JJ shook her head with a smile, clearly impressed.

"You guys all rock, you know that?"

Ryan beamed.

"I'll let you guys go since I know you're on vacation, but is there any chance I could have a photo with you?" he asked, somewhat sheepishly. JJ chuckled.

"Of course," she said, as Will reached out to take Ryan's phone. Just moments later, he had snapped a photo of them. As he was handing it back, JJ quickly grabbed it, opening the camera again and holding it up for a selfie with Ryan and Will. Amidst much laughter, they snapped the photo, before returning the phone to Ryan.

"You guys are awesome, it's been so nice to meet you," he laughed, tucking his phone away in his pocket.

"You too. Hey, if you're ever at a meet, come say hi," JJ said, getting an exuberant nod from Ryan. Bidding their goodbyes, JJ and Will continued along down the path, walking silently side by side as they took in the beauty of the frost encrusted park around them.

A short while later, they found a bench tucked away from the main path and decided to stop. They'd only been sitting a short while when Will decided to speak.

"You feeling alright? About going back to training, I mean," he asked softly.

JJ sighed heavily. "I think so... I mean... it's a big year. Knowing that my next competition is likely to be the start of the selection process... it's a lot to take in. I mostly just can't believe I've actually made it this far"

"Not without a few bumps and bruises," Will chuckled, making JJ grin as she looked down at her left leg, her mind carrying back to the day she'd snapped it dismounting the beam.

"I'm excited... as hard and as stressful as this year is going to be... it's an experience worth having, regardless of the outcome," she said happily, looking up at Will again.

Will was surprised about how calm JJ sounded, speaking as though she thought her chances of making the team were as average as anyone else. It was something that never failed to astound him; her modesty and humbleness about her own abilities, about the fact that she was all but guaranteed a spot on the team...

"Well, I'm sure you know this by now, but I'm with you every step of the way," Will reassured her.

JJ grinned, reaching over and taking his hand.

"Better buckle up, my love. It's gonna be a crazy ride.


	88. Chapter 88

**A/N: Who's keen for 2016!**

* * *

By the evening, JJ and Will were back in Pittsburgh, feeling refreshed from their whirlwind trip to New York and ready to tackle whatever was ahead.

"Holy hell it's cold out there," JJ grumbled as she shrugged her jacket off once she was through the door. "It wasn't this cold in New York"

"We always get colder here, you should've been expecting that," Sandy chuckled, rolling JJ's suitcase out of the doorway as Will and her brother came in behind her. "Did you have a good trip?"

JJ nodded, smiling happily. "It was just what I needed, I think"

"Good, I'm glad," Sandy nodded. "I hope you didn't spend the entire time worrying about your dad though"

JJ steeled herself as her mind wandered back to that first evening, Will ducking past her quickly as he too found himself revisiting that night.

"No, I was fine," she replied quickly. "Where is Dad?"

"Probably asleep upstairs," Sandy said, watching as JJ immediately turned and headed upstairs in search of her father.

Reaching the door of her parents' bedroom, JJ had just started to push it open when she heard the sounds of retching coming from the master bathroom.

Grabbing a hand towel and a washcloth from the stack her mom kept prepared in the corner of the room, she crossed the room and pushed open the bathroom door. Inside, she found her father crouched over the toilet bowl, his head in his hands as he seemed to will away the nausea. He didn't seem to have heard JJ enter the room.

Walking to the basin, JJ quickly dampened both the washcloth and hand towel with cold water, before going back to her dad and draping the hand towel around the back of his neck. The motion made him look up, his face brightening to see JJ kneeling down beside him.

"Hey Jaybird," he said weakly, managing a smile. "I didn't realise you were home"

"I only just got home now," JJ said with a soft smile, reaching out and gently wiping her dad's face with the cool cloth. "Are you alright?"

Michael nodded, slowly lowering himself down to lean against the wall. "I will be. Just the chemo... making me feel shitty. Hopefully that means its working"

A tiny stab of fear wound its way into JJ's stomach at the word 'hopefully', but she just as quickly forced it away.

"How was New York?" Michael asked, the exhaustion on his face now seeping into every word he spoke.

"So much fun. But surely you'd rather hear about it when you're not throwing up your lunch," JJ teased lightly, getting half a chuckle out of her dad.

"Fair point," he said softly, slowly starting to pull himself to his feet. Reaching over and flushing the toilet, he dragged his tired body back out to the bedroom, where he climbed back into the comfort of the bed as JJ came back into the room behind him.

"I'm just going to go and say goodbye to Will, because he wants to go home, but I'll be right back to tell you everything," JJ said with a smile.

"No rush," Michael chuckled as she headed for the door. "I'm not going anywhere"

* * *

 _ **Who do you think the USA is going to send to the American Cup next year?**_

 _Well, the spots have to be offered to Simone and JJ first since they were the ones who earned them. I think JJ may accept hers – she's never competed at an American Cup, and all her routines are pretty much set now, unlike this year when she wasn't quite ready. I'm pretty sure I remember Aimee saying that Simone won't be competing there this time, she's going to open her Olympic season at the Pacific Rims. If she doesn't accept, it'll go to Maggie, Gabby, or Aly most likely. Unless Marta wants to give a new senior a chance, like Laurie Hernandez or Ragan Smith. We'll see._

 _ **Which gymnasts do you think are definitely in contention for a spot on the Olympic team for the USA?**_

 _Out of the girls who are already senior, obviously Simone Biles, then Jennifer Jareau, Aly Raisman, Gabby Douglas, Ashton Locklear, Madison Kocian, Mykayla Skinner, and Maggie Nichols probably have the clearest chances. Rachel Gowey may be an outside shot, as well as Bailie Key, but we'll see. As for new seniors next year, Ragan Smith, Laurie Hernandez, and Jazmyn Foberg probably have the best chances. So that's a lot of girls vying for five places, two of which are arguably already locked down (Simone and JJ). So in reality, the fight is for the last three. It's going to be an intense year!_

* * *

"Nice to have you back," Nick called out with a grin as JJ entered the gym early on the first morning of December, a blustery and cold Tuesday. "How was New York?"

"New York was awesome. I probably should tell you though... I'm going to LA for three days next week. Simone and I are wanted for an interview on Ellen," JJ replied, unable to conceal her excitement about getting to go on the famous host's show.

"Hey, that's exciting!" Nick exclaimed. "That's alright, I'm not starting your full-time training until after New Year, we're just going to work on skills for the next couple of weeks. And...," he trailed off, turning and leading her out towards the gym floor, where JJ could now see Elliott tightening the bars cables while someone else, a young woman, chalked them.

"I'm assuming you got my message about having potentially found an assistant coach?" he said as JJ dropped her bag by the lockers along the front wall. She nodded, zipping her jacket up a little tighter to fight the chill inside the gym. Following Nick as he walked around the trampolines to stand at the edge of the floor, she rubbed her hands together vigorously to try and bring some feeling back into her freezing fingers.

"Hey Teagan!" Nick called out. The young woman turned, smiling as Nick waved for her to join them. Dropping the chalk back in the bucket, she jogged across the floor to meet them.

"JJ, this is Teagan, our extremely promising potential assistant coach," Nick said with a grin as Teagan beamed. "Teagan, I'm sure you know of her, but this is JJ, our senior elite"

"It's so nice to finally meet you!" Teagan said warmly, extending a hand, which JJ shook with a smile. She was at least a few years older than JJ, probably no older than thirty at the most. But, like JJ, she was tiny, with skin as pale as the snow blowing around outside, silky black hair, and a smattering of freckles across her nose.

"I'm hoping to learn a lot from working with you guys," Teagan beamed.

"I discovered last week while you were gone that Teagan is actually a brilliant choreographer; she did an amazing new routine for Kate in just a few days, and I was thinking, if you're ok with it, that maybe the two of you could work on a new floor routine for the new season," Nick suggested. JJ nodded enthusiastically.

"You know I love getting a new routine!" she said excitedly, making Nick and Teagan laugh.

"Well, go and get warm, then we'll go for indepth stretching and conditioning, then we'll work our way to skills. Have a think about what you'd like to do for a new routine," Nick instructed. "Maybe a bit of a _samba_ ," he said jokingly, pretending to do a samba dance as he spoke, sending JJ into a fit of laughter.

"I thought I was the one who couldn't dance," she giggled as Teagan watched the two of them with a huge grin.

"Nah, I think it's you and me both kid," Nick laughed, waving her off to start her warmup, before heading across the floor with Teagan to continue preparing the equipment for the day ahead of them.


	89. Chapter 89

**A/N: Nice long one!**

* * *

It was snowing relentlessly in Pittsburgh, but thankfully, it hadn't stopped JJ and Michael from getting to the hospital for Michael's next chemo appointment. With Christmas now just a month away, winter was bearing down on them with no sign of letting up anytime soon.

"Alright Michael, why don't you get nice and comfortable, and I'll be back with your infusion in a few minutes," said Nicky, the young nurse was overseeing the start of Michael's appointment. She had just administered a dose of anti-nausea drugs to help keep the sickness at bay. "Angie should be here soon, and she'll take over once she arrives"

Nodding in agreement, Michael settled back in his chair, JJ sitting down in the chair beside him.

Seconds later, the door to the ward burst open and in came Angie, looking exasperated as she led a little girl in behind her.

"I'm so sorry, Izzy's school called a snow day, her grandparents are snowed in, I had to bring her with me," she said somewhat breathlessly as she approached the nurse's station.

"That's alright," said the charge nurse, Toni. "Hi Izzy"

"Hi," Izzy replied, smiling widely at Toni. "Do I get to sit in your chair today?"

"Oh, absolutely kiddo!" Toni replied with a wide smile, reaching out a hand and taking Izzy under her watchful eye as Angie went to get ready for her shift.

"How are you feeling?" JJ asked her dad quietly as they waited for one of the nurses to come back with his medication.

"Like crap," Michael muttered, leaning back in the chair and closing his eyes. "Gotta get worse before it gets better, right?"

Reaching over, JJ squeezed his hand, a wan smile crossing her face. "Something like that"

"Only four more rounds to go," Michael said quietly, opening his eyes and giving JJ a tired smile. "Then a month of radiation... and then I'll be singing a different tune come May"

"So I'm guessing... if I get named to the American Cup... you won't be there?" JJ asked knowingly.

Michael shook his head. "You know I'd give half my heart away to be able to go... but if you go to the American Cup, I'll be glued to my TV all weekend"

JJ smiled, nodding as Angie approached them with Michael's chemo, looking more than a little frazzled.

"Morning all," she said chirpily as she hung the plastic covered bag from his IV pole. "Feeling ok today Michael?"

"Not great, but no worse than usual," Michael said honestly. "I'm worrying less now that JJ's home from New York"

"Please, I go all around the world and you're fine, but I go to New York and you worry?" JJ laughed.

"It's not so much you I worry about as Will. You can be a handful," Michael teased, making Angie laugh as JJ shook her head. "You go all around the world with Marta Karolyi, and if she can control Simone, she can control you. Will? Hmm... not so much"

The two girls laughed again.

"Excuse me Dad, but I'm nowhere _near_ as bad as Simone," JJ giggled. "I love her, but she's a nightmare"

"You're lucky my Izzy didn't notice you on her way in," Angie chuckled. "She's your six year old super fan; you'd be bombarded with questions all day"

"Snow day at school?" JJ asked knowingly.

"It's Pennsylvania, are you surprised?" Angie chuckled. "Alright Michael, I'm just going to hook this up to your central line and then you're pretty much set for the day"

"Sounds like a plan," Michael said tiredly, still managing a smile. Reaching a thin hand down the collar of his shirt, he pulled out the end of the central line so Angie could access it easier. JJ swallowed thickly, turning away and fixing her gaze on the opposite side of the room; it was one of the least confronting parts about her father's disease, and yet it was one of the things that always bothered her the most.

"There we are," Angie said a few minutes later. "So we'll let that one run until its empty, probably an hour or so, and then we'll put up the next one which will probably take about two hours, because if we run that one too fast, it makes you sick"

Michael nodded, giving Angie a tired smile as he settled back in his chair once more. Angie smiled back, turning and heading back up to the nurses' station.

"I'll be back in a minute Dad," JJ said quietly, rising from her chair and following Angie down the ward, getting a half hearted wave from her father.

Sensing JJ behind her as she reached the ledge dividing the station from the ward, Angie looked over her shoulder with a smile.

"What can I do for you?" she asked warmly, turning to face JJ.

"I was wondering if you could introduce me to Izzy," JJ said with a smile. "Sitting around here all day is tedious enough for me, let alone a six year old"

"She's going to freak out," Angie laughed. "I haven't told her your dad is one of my patients, or I'd never hear the end of it"

JJ grinned.

"She's just around here with Toni, I'm pretty sure," Angie added, beckoning for JJ to follow her as she walked towards the door into the nurses' station.

Pushing on the door, it swung open, allowing her and JJ into the cluttered but homey little area in which the nurses did everything from paperwork to making coffee.

There was a smaller room around the corner just to the right, and as they approached, JJ could hear the animated voice of a happy little girl as she recounted her weekend to the charge nurse. She hung back a little as Angie poked her head into the room.

"Hey munchkin, you behaving?"

"I'm being an angel!" Izzy proclaimed happily, much to the amusement of the women.

"You better be being an angel because I have to tell you something really special," Angie said. "Do you remember when Mommy told you that she's looking after a very special person's daddy at the hospital?"

"Uh huh," Izzy said. JJ bit back a grin; she sounded a little disinterested.

"Well, that person is here today and they'd like to say hello to you," Angie continued, waving behind her for JJ to come to the door.

"Who is it?" Izzy asked, a hint of curiosity in her voice. Moments later, Angie stepped aside, and JJ walked up to the doorframe with a huge smile.

Izzy's gasp of utter amazement made everyone in the room burst out laughing.

"Oh my gosh!" she squealed, jumping off her chair and zooming across the room to throw her arms around JJ's waist in an excited hug. JJ laughed, returning the gesture by giving Izzy a squeeze. Seconds later, Izzy had started crying as she pulled away, clearly overwhelmed at being in the presence of her idol.

"Oh, don't cry," JJ chuckled, bending down to Izzy's level as Angie knelt down to try and calm down her daughter.

"JJ wanted to say hello to you. A little birdie told her that you do gymnastics," Angie said sweetly.

"Y-eah," Izzy said through her tears, a watery smile finding its way onto her face. "Did... did you know th-that you look t-taller on TV?"

They all laughed, making Izzy break into watery giggles.

"I get that a lot," JJ laughed, reaching out and wrapping an arm around Izzy's waist. With her other hand, she reached up, wiping away the little girl's tears. "I hear you had a snow day today"

Izzy giggled, her tears mostly subsided. "Yeah... and my gran's house is buried in snow"

"Not quite kiddo, but close," Angie laughed.

"Would you like to come and sit with me, and you can tell me _all_ about your gymnastics?" JJ offered.

Izzy looked to Angie, excitement shining through her teary eyes.

"As long as you're on your best behaviour kiddo, ok? JJ's dad isn't feeling very well, and I'm sure he'd like peace and quiet," Angie said firmly.

"He lives with me and my mom, peace and quiet is a thing of the past," JJ joked as she straightened up and took Izzy's hand. Angie chuckled, watching with a happy heart as her excited little girl skipped off hand in hand with her biggest idol.

* * *

"I remember when JJ was a little girl and she went to her first ever gymnastics competition. She did very well and won the all-around in her division, but when she was on the podium to get her medal, she sneezed so hard she fell off," Michael said, leaning on the arm of his chair as he engaged in conversation with JJ and Izzy.

Izzy giggled hysterically from where she was squeezed in beside JJ in the other armchair. JJ grinned; her father had been amusing Izzy for the last hour with tales of JJ's early misfortunes in gymnastics.

"My mommy says I'm a klutz, so I don't know if I'll be good at gymnastics," Izzy said seriously after she'd settled down.

"Well, you know Simone Biles?" JJ asked. Izzy nodded.

"She's amazing at gymnastics, but she's terrible at walking. She falls over all the time," JJ told her. Izzy laughed again.

"Alright Michael, looks like you're all done for the day," Angie said warmly as she strode over wearing latex gloves and carrying a syringe filled with saline solution. "I hope my Izzy has been good for you guys"

"She's gorgeous," Michael chuckled. "She can sit with us anytime"

Beaming, Angie disconnected Michael's chemo from his line, before flushing the port with the saline solution.

"I'll just finish writing up today's paperwork, and then you're good to go," Angie said warmly.

Fifteen minutes later, with some more anti-nausea on board, Michael was free to go. As he was pulling on his jacket, JJ approached Angie, who was standing by the nurses' station.

"You'll have to let me know when Izzy's coming back, I'd love to bring her some things," she said with a smile.

"Well, she'll probably be here the first week of winter break, because her dad is going to visit his family in California then. She's going to be so excited to see you again," Angie replied.

"Are you leaving?" Izzy exclaimed as she came running out of the office as if on cue.

"Yeah, I have to go home now, but I'll see you soon!" JJ said, kneeling down to give Izzy one last hug. "Be good for your mom"

"I promise," Izzy said sweetly, standing with Angie and waving as JJ and her dad made their way back out of the ward once more.

* * *

"I feel like there's a couple of things I should let you know about JJ before you start working with her," Nick said gently as he and Teagan sat down in the now empty gym, having just sent Kate and Clem home after their first training session for the day.

"Ok," Teagan replied, grabbing her water bottle from where she'd sat it at the edge of the floor.

"Most of the time, she's a dream to coach. She's stubborn and knows what she wants, but she's a hard worker. If you tell her to do something, nine times out of ten, she'll do it. She only kicks up a fuss over it if she's in a really shitty mood, which... over the last year, only really happened a couple of times after New Year when her boyfriend was being an idiot"

Teagan laughed. "Doesn't surprise me"

Nick grinned. "He is actually a really nice guy, and he's helped JJ grow into the confident, headstrong person she is today, so don't get me wrong there"

Teagan chuckled, nodding.

"JJ has the biggest heart of gold of anyone I've ever known. She loves meeting and spending time with her fans; not out of big headedness or anything, purely because she wants to answer their questions and give them some inspiration. And if you think she's gold hearted with her fans, she's ten times more so with her family and friends"

Nick sighed heavily, clasping his hands together. "I normally wouldn't impart what I'm about to tell you without JJ knowing... I'd wait for her to tell you herself, but... there is a lot going on in her life outside of gymnastics and as much as I wish it was good, it really isn't. I want you to know and be aware of what she's dealing with, without letting on to her that you know, because I want you to be prepared if the shitty days start happening more often, which I'm inclined to think they are. And also because I know JJ would rather cut off both of her arms than admit to someone that she's having a rough time"

Teagan nodded, a look of concern crossing her face.

"JJ had a rough year this year... this year was the tenth anniversary of her sister's death by suicide. I didn't actually know this until we left for Worlds camp, but JJ was actually the one who found her sister after she'd killed herself, and considering she was only eleven years old... I think there were a lot of unhealed wounds this year that all came back to the surface"

By now, Teagan's expression read as a mixture of horror and sadness, her mouth slightly agape as she watched Nick closely, waiting to see if he had more to say.

"I had no idea about all that," she said in a shocked whisper.

"She's pretty private in general," Nick replied. "Learning to open up and not push everything deep down is a skill she's been working on all year"

"God," Teagan whispered in disbelief.

"That isn't where it's ended though," Nick added. "When we were away at Worlds, the night before the team final, she found out that her dad has cancer. She was... well... I've never seen her that upset, let's put it that way"

"Holy crap... you'd think one person would have had enough to deal with"

"You'd think, but someone somewhere has other ideas," Nick sighed. "I haven't yet witnessed how her dad being sick is going to affect her training, but I've got a feeling the shitty days are going to become more frequent"

"What do you normally do when she kicks up?" Teagan asked.

"Usually I can bring it to an end by just putting my foot down and telling her to get her ass into gear. Often results in death glares and a few muttered swear words, but she'll do whatever it is you're asking if you're firm enough. If she's really not having it, I've sent her outside to cool off, and if that doesn't work, I've sent her home. Only ever had to do that twice, and both times she came back the next time around with her tail between her legs for sure"

Teagan laughed as Nick grinned.

"Honestly, don't be too concerned, she's pretty easy to handle 99 percent of the time. I just wanted you to be aware of what's going on with her at the moment so you can let me know if you have any concerns," he explained. "But I think you'll be just fine"


	90. Chapter 90

**A/N: I'm getting so keen to move this along!**

* * *

"If you don't know who our next two guests are, well, you're going to be their biggest fans in just a short while. With the summer Olympics in Rio now less than a year away, sports like gymnastics are starting to grow in popularity with the everyday audience. For those who've been following gymnastics since the last Olympics in London, these two girls have been taking Team USA by storm ever since. One of them has already been to the Olympics, but she's determined to turn one into two, while her younger teammate is looking to continue her own path of gymnastics domination in Brazil in August. Please welcome the two top ranked gymnasts in the world, Jennifer Jareau and Simone Biles!"

The applause as the two of them walked out was incredibly uplifting. Amongst the noise, they both hugged Ellen, beaming from ear to ear as they sat down on the comfortable couch opposite her.

"Wow, ok, well, welcome, it's so nice to have you girls here today!" Ellen said warmly as the applause died down.

"It's really nice to be here," Simone said with a giggle, clearly very excited, JJ nodding in agreement beside her.

"So, let's do a quick little intro for the people who may not know who you girls are... both of these wonderful young ladies represent the United States in elite gymnastics, and, well, you've both got a huge collection of titles you've won. Simone, you're from Spring, Texas, and you're a three time world champion in the all-around and on floor exercise?"

Simone nodded, beaming from ear to ear.

"Now let me get this straight," Ellen said, picking up a white card. "You're the first woman to win three consecutive world all-around titles, the first African-American to be world all-around champion, and the second most decorated American gymnast in world championship history"

Simone giggled as the audience gave an impressed round of applause.

"And JJ, you're from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and as well as being the reigning Olympic beam champion, you also have four world titles on beam, as well as being a member of the gold medal winning Fierce Five in London. Add to that, I believe you're currently the most decorated gymnast in American history"

JJ grinned. "It sounds way more impressive when you say it like that"

The audience laughed.

"You're both shooting for Rio, so how about you tell us a little bit about how you're feeling heading into the Olympic year. Do you have to change or increase your training?"

Simone looked at JJ, clearly wanting her to speak first.

"Um, well, the Olympic year is always kinda tough for many reasons. There's a lot more pressure and a lot more nerves, and next year is going to be no different. It's a little hard as well because in the off years of the quad, we don't have Classics or Nationals until early August, but next year, the Olympics are in August, so we'll have Classics, Nationals, and Trials all wrapped up by mid July, which means we have to train to peak earlier than usual. But that doesn't necessarily mean we have to change our training. The best thing to do at this stage is just keep doing what you're doing, because changing your training could lead to injuries, which would be the absolute worst thing to do right now"

"You've both achieved so much, does it give you some confidence to keep building or, or... how do you surpass that?"

Simone smiled. "Um, well sometimes I kind of... I don't really think about it just because we have to go forward and we focus on other things, but when we look back at it, it's like... it's really cool, and all the little kids that look up to us, it's a huge honour"

"When did you both start gymnastics?"

"I started when I was six, which is actually late for gymnastics," Simone giggled.

"When are you supposed to start?" Ellen asked, in slight disbelief.

"As soon as you can walk, in Mommy and Me classes," JJ chimed in. "But I didn't start that early either, I started when I was four"

"That's crazy, so, JJ... you've dedicated nearly twenty years of your life to this sport, I mean... that's a massive commitment. How often do you train?"

"We both have similar schedules, we train for thirty two hours a week. Simone trains six days a week with Sundays off, and I train five and a half days a week, with Saturday afternoons and Sundays off"

"That's like a full-time job," Ellen said with a grin. "Well, I heard through the grapevine that, Simone, you have a bit of a crush on someone"

Simone started giggling as laughter filtered around the room.

"Wanna share who it is?" Ellen chuckled.

"Zac Efron," Simone giggled, getting a round of cheers.

"Is that mostly because he's gorgeous?"

"Yep," Simone agreed immediately, inciting more laughter.

"What about you JJ, have you got a celebrity crush?"

"I probably shouldn't say, my boyfriend won't like it too much," JJ giggled, her cheeks flushing red as the audience laughed again.

"Oh go on," Ellen jibed.

"Well... I have a huge thing for Leonardo DiCaprio," JJ admitted with a giggle, getting a round of cheers and wolf whistles.

"He _is_ cute," Ellen chuckled. "Were you a _Titanic_ super fan?"

JJ laughed. "I think I watched it at least twice a week for a good six months when I was about twelve. I still love it, my boyfriend thinks it's pathetic"

Ellen chuckled, nodding in agreement. "Your boyfriend though... what's he like? Wouldn't having a boyfriend be a distraction for an Olympic gymnast?"

"Will's _cuuute_ ," Simone giggled as JJ blushed through laughter.

"He is very attractive," JJ giggled.

"Well, yeah, we think so too," Ellen said, as a picture from Will's Instagram appeared on the screen behind them. It was one from 2014 that JJ's mom had snapped of them at the pool at the hotel in Nanning. JJ was sitting on the edge of the pool, her legs dangling in the water while Will leant against them as he looked up at her with a smile. A unanimous ' _awww_ ' rang out from the audience.

"That's like my favourite photo of them, they're so photogenic," Simone laughed.

Smiling as she turned back to Ellen, JJ spoke again.

"But no, it's not a distraction. Marta Karolyi, the national team coordinator, wasn't all that happy about me having a boyfriend back in 2013, because she thought it _would_ be a distraction, but she realised I still perform just as well, and in fact... I think Will helped me build more confidence in myself, so it's all worked out in the end"

A short period of calm followed before Ellen spoke again.

"I'm going to get a little serious for a moment here, and please do change the subject if you don't want to talk about it... JJ, you got some bad news when you were away at Worlds this year, you found out your dad had cancer," she said softly.

JJ nodded, taking a deep breath as she did.

"How do you feel going into this year with that going on as well?"

"It's... hard. I mean, it's been hard since day one when I found out. He tells me not to, but I worry about him every day. I know that all I can do is support him and help him as much as I can through this, while focusing on my training. Dad would never forgive me if I let him being sick get in the way of my gymnastics," JJ said with a giggle. "I think he'd disown me for it"

The audience laughed.

"I know right, how dare you let someone with cancer stop you from going to the Olympics, how arrogantly selfless of you," Ellen joked, making the girls and the audience laugh even harder.

Once it had quietened again, JJ took a deep breath. "So... yeah... it's been a difficult couple of months. But as of right now, my dad is doing really well, and my family and I all have an amazing support network to help us through the rough times, and I always know I have these amazing girls as well... we'll be ok. Just have to take it one step at a time"

And, JJ thought as Ellen turned her attention back to Simone before the interview came to an end, that was really all they could do.


	91. Chapter 91

**A/N: 2016!**

* * *

Christmas and New Year whipped by in a flurry of snow, and before they knew it, January was almost over. January had brought a bitter wind that snapped and nipped at exposed skin the second you stepped outside.

On the first of January, JJ had hardly dared to believe it.

2016.

It was here. The Olympic year. After London, Rio had felt so far away, like a distant dream that was always just past reach. But now, it was January 27th, and the 2016 Summer Olympic Games were exactly 191 days away.

Having just returned from the national team camp, JJ was feeling confident in her abilities for the upcoming season. After resuming full strength training after Christmas, she and Nick had eagerly set a plan in place for her routines heading into the Olympic season. Marta had been more than pleased with her progress, and had rewarded her as such by approving her acceptance of the American Cup spot she had earned with her placing in Glasgow.

On vault, she was keeping and refining the Amanar, which had been starting to look very promising come Worlds. Her second vault, however, she was hoping to add another half twist to, turning it into a Yurchenko half on, full twisting front layout off. In the gym community, it was unofficially known as the Mustafina vault; Aliya Mustafina had submitted it as a new skill at the 2010 World Championships, but her teammate, Tatiana Nabieva, had also performed it. This had meant the skill would not be named for either of them and had been added to the Code of Points as an unnamed skill. It was also, quite famously within the USA, the vault that McKayla had fallen on in the 2012 Olympic vault final. JJ knew if she could master the skill, it would give her a berth to the Olympic vault final should she make the team, and quietly, she wanted to give the vault its comeuppance and put it to her feet for McKayla.

Given that JJ's confidence had grown immensely on bars over the years, Nick had taken the executive decision to rework her bars routine in time for the American Cup to give her a chance to test it out; if Marta didn't like it, they would simply revert to her old routine.

Making use of JJ's prowess with execution and big skills, he had worked out a routine that kept the connections rather simple, building the difficulty mainly on the large skills. Her one big connection series came in the middle of the routine; a Downie release, straight into a Pak salto, directly back up to the high bar with a Chow, and a half turn on top of the bar to finish it off. As well as that, they had upgraded her dismount from a double layout flyaway to a full twisting double layout. Having been capable of all the skills for a couple of years, JJ had found it relatively easy to learn the new routine, and the change of pace had left her feeling more refreshed and more confident in her ability. She was eager to hammer home the knowledge that bars, while her weakest of the four events, was not actually a weak event for her as it had once so been.

Her beam routine was remaining exactly the same; on a day where she hit all her connections, her maximum potential score was a 17.200, which was completely off the charts as far as beam routines went. Simone was the closest to catching her, at a 16.800 potential score, but aside from Simone, everyone else was down in the mid 16's, and knowing that that was a secure cushion to have, both Nick and JJ had agreed not to mess with what already worked.

As for floor, there was room to go upwards. Having hammered out the imperfections with her double layout long ago, the two had, over the last year, been messing with some new variations on it, and Nick felt that one of them had huge potential to be ready for competition by July. She was also playing with a new combination on her third tumbling line; a whip into her double Arabian, followed by a stag leap on the end. If the upgrades were successful, her floor would finally reach the level of Aly's prowess.

All in all, she was excited to progress even further in the sport than many had expected of her. As well as that, working with the new upgrades gave her something to focus on in the gym to keep her mind off of the two biggest weights on her shoulders.

Her dad's illness, and the Olympic Games.

* * *

 _ **Have any of the US assignments been announced yet?**_

 _Only the American Cup has been decided, and even then, only one place has been named. JJ was announced by USAG as the headliner for the American Cup last week, but the absence of an announcement about Simone tells me that she has decided to forego her place and hopefully bid for a Pacific Rim place instead. The World Cup assignments will be announced at the end of the February camp, and the Pac Rims team at the end of March._

 _ **Is JJ the only elite from Romero's?**_

 _She was up until the 22nd of January! Kate Albridge from Romero's actually qualified at the Parkettes Elite Qualifier while JJ was away at the national team camp. She's 12 years old and is, in every way imagineable, JJ's little mini-me; right down to the blonde hair and blue eyes haha! She's got gorgeous form and technique and really tremendous power on vault and floor, so clearly Nick is doing something right with his gymnasts!_

 _ **What do you think could take Simone Biles out of the running for the Olympic team?**_

 _At this stage, I think she'd literally have to break her neck. She's so good and so hardy against major injuries, she's on that team barring like... death._

* * *

"Long day?" Will called from where he sat on JJ's bed. She had disappeared into the bathroom about ten minutes earlier, and the tap had been running for almost half that time.

Almost immediately, the tap shut off. Minutes later, she came back out into the room, pressing a piece of gauze down to her right hand.

"Yeah... I got a huge rip on bars right before I finished practice," JJ replied, lifting the gauze and holding out her hand for Will to see. Right in the middle of her palm, a piece of skin the size of a quarter had been pulled away.

Will winced. "Ouch"

"Yeah... stings a little bit, but I'll live," JJ said with a grin, covering it back up once more. Using the short bandage clutched in her hand, she wrapped it up tightly, before falling onto the bed beside Will.

"Hey, tell me something," Will said, looking at JJ with amusement written all over his face. "Where are your Olympic medals?"

JJ glanced over at her display shelf. The third shelf up had, for the last four years, been home to her most treasured achievements. But, as Will had noticed, they had vanished from the shelf, and her World medals had been spread out in their place.

"Oh... I asked my dad to put them in the safe," she said simply.

"Why?"

"Because it was making me anxious every time I looked at them," JJ explained. "I just need to keep calm and focused this year, and it's easier if I don't see them every day right now, it helps keep the pressure away. Maybe I'll feel differently by nationals, but for now... I'm happier if they're in the safe"

Smiling, Will looped an arm around JJ's shoulders and pressed a loving kiss to her temple.

"You're gonna be just fine, darlin'. I know it"


	92. Chapter 92

**A/N: Had a request for some smut, and you know I'm always prepared to deliver ;)**

* * *

She whirled through the air, her body rotating quickly about two axes as she whipped through the second twist. Her form was tight and clean, and the power was all there.

Hitting the pit mat hard, she was delighted to see that she had actually gotten it all the way around.

"NICE!" Nick yelled happily from the other side of the pit. "That's looking really good!"

It was the skill they had been playing with for nearly a year, only seriously training since just before Worlds. If JJ could master it in time for the US Classic, which was looking highly likely, it was going to make her floor routine one of the hardest in the world.

It was the double twisting double layout, otherwise known as the Moors, and it was the hardest tumbling element in women's gymnastics. It was arguably the hardest element overall outside of vaulting, and so for that reason, it had surprised JJ how naturally it had been coming to her over the last few months.

"Seriously, seriously, great," Nick praised as she climbed out of the pit and walked towards him. "That, with your double double, the connections to your Arabian, and a full in... makes you pretty unstoppable this year"

JJ grinned. "I'll tell Simone her national floor title is in jeopardy"

Nick laughed. "Yeah, then watch her show up at Nationals with a Moors, a full twisting double layout, a Biles, and a double double"

JJ had to laugh. Because, she wouldn't have been surprised _at all_ if Simone actually did that.

* * *

Weak sunlight trickled through the gap in the curtains, casting a warm, dusty haze of light throughout the room. It was a cool, early morning, but Will was quite warm and content where he lay, half asleep beneath the duvet.

To his right, JJ was still deep in her dreams. She was laying on her stomach, her long hair swathed out behind her on the pillow. With her shirt bunched up just below her ribs, the duvet covering her from the waist down, she looked as comfortable as ever. And just as beautiful.

Rolling onto his side, he lifted his left hand, reaching out and brushing her hair back from her face. She shifted slightly at his touch, half a smile finding its way to her pretty features.

Bringing his hand down to the small of her back, he placed it gently against her warm skin. With his thumb, he gently stroked small circles over the subtle definitions of hard earned muscles, smiling when she shifted closer. Her eyelashes fluttered, her smile reappearing as she let out a sigh and turned onto her side, facing Will as she stretched her arm out above her.

Knowing she was now semi-awake and clutching onto sleep for as long as she could, Will moved even closer, his hand resting on her bare stomach as he nuzzled into the crook of her neck.

She let out a soft giggle, tipping her head to allow him easier access as he placed a trail of gentle kisses from beneath her ear all the way down to her collarbones. He lingered for a moment on the edge of her collarbone, before kissing his way back up the front of her neck, over her jaw, ending his trail with a deep kiss to her lips.

As they stayed locked in the kiss, they both shifted so that they were closer together; Will was now lying directly over the top of JJ, her arms draped loosely around his midsection.

When they broke apart, her eyes fluttered open, shining brightly even in the dull wintery light of the bedroom.

"You can wake me up like that anytime you like," she said softly with a giggle. Will broke into his handsome grin, tucking her hair behind her ear as he leaned back down towards her.

"I wasn't planning on stopping there," he replied in a low growl, capturing her lips in another deep kiss. JJ melted into his touch, opening her lips as he brushed his tongue against hers. It seemed as though they had both awakened with a burning desire that desperately needed to be satiated.

Sliding his free hand beneath the waistband of JJ's sweatpants, Will brushed past where he knew she really wanted to be touched, instead tracing circles on her inner thigh. She let out a quiet groan, effectively breaking their kiss, her legs falling apart as she tried to direct his touch closer to her center.

"You like that?" Will asked teasingly.

"I'd like it a whole lot better if you'd actually touch me," JJ replied, frustration dripping from each word. It had been so long since they had been properly intimate, so long since they had fulfilled each other's pleasures, that all it had taken was a couple of incredibly passionate kisses to get her turned on. But now, she felt like that burning arousal couldn't possibly be satisfied.

Surely Will was feeling the same.

And sure enough, as he shifted his weight so his hips were resting against hers, she could feel his hardened length against her thigh, desperate to be freed from his sweats.

Giving in, Will redirected his touch to her core; she was already highly aroused, and so it gave him great pleasure to slip his fingers beneath the elastic of her underwear.

When he touched her properly for the first time, she let out a gasp, pushing her hips into his hand as he gently stroked her, pleasured her, satisfied her in ways only he knew how. Given that she was thoroughly enjoying his touch and appeared to have no mind for anything else at the present moment, he was pleasantly surprised when one of her hands slipped into his boxers and closed around his aching shaft.

Sleep was long forgotten as they worked with and against each other. The room grew heavy with arousal and desire, their sleep clothes being pulled off tantalisingly slow as their hands wandered distractedly across each other's bodies. Before too long, they were both completely naked, still locked in an embrace as they relished the sensation of their bare skin pressed together.

But neither of them could take the ever growing arousal anymore. Bracing himself over JJ, Will pushed gently into her, both of them groaning as their bodies agreed with the change of pace.

It was needy, heavy breaths and soft moans breaking the early morning silence that hung above them in the room. Despite the cool wintery air outside, sweat glistened on their skin, but even that couldn't have stopped JJ from pulling Will as close to her as she could.

She was the first to finally fall over the edge, letting out a cry of ecstasy as her entire body tensed up through radiating waves of pleasure. Will came a few moments later, rocking his hips to coax himself through the release as he fought to hold himself up on shaking arms. Breathless and sweaty, he eventually collapsed down beside JJ, his body half covering hers as they basked in the afterglow.

"Better than an alarm," JJ finally said about five minutes later, looking over at Will with a grin. He chuckled, lifting his head to kiss her cheek.

"Way better," he agreed. Looking to his left, he glanced at the clock on the bedside table. "You have training in like... an hour"

"Then you better let me up so I can go pee," JJ giggled.

"What if I don't?" Will asked cheekily.

"It's not gonna end well for either of us," JJ said seriously, pushing Will off of her as he laughed. Grabbing her shirt from the end of the bed, she tugged it over her head before starting to get up and head for the bathroom. As she stood up, Will reached over, playfully swatting at her ass, making her jump.

"Hey!" she exclaimed, unable to fight back a grin as she shot him a rude hand gesture before heading into the bathroom, leaving him to laugh it up on his own in the bedroom.

* * *

" _One of my school friends was telling me the other day that she had a pregnancy scare last year, and well... it got me thinking"_

JJ smirked. "I think I can pretty accurately guess what's going to come out of your mouth next"

" _No, goody two shoes Jareau would always be smart enough to use protection,"_ Aly giggled. _"Even if the opposite meant adorable mini JJ and Wills-"_

"We actually have had a pregnancy scare," JJ laughed, cutting Aly off.

" _I was just kidding around, oh my god,"_ Aly laughed. _"You actually had a scare?"_

"Yeah," JJ said with a grin. "Funnily enough, it was _before_ last Christmas when you made that joke in front of our moms"

Aly only laughed even more. _"Oh my god, Jayje, I'm sorry, you probably had a heart attack when I said that"_

"If she did, it was nowhere near the heart attack she gave me when she told me she thought she was pregnant," Will chimed in with a chuckle.

" _When was it?"_

"Literally three days before I left for Worlds camp in 2014. I realised that even with my pill, I was a week late, which _never_ happens, and I panicked. Luckily, I got my period the morning I left, and honestly, it's the only time I've ever cried with relief over getting my period," JJ laughed.

" _Oh my god, I would've died. Like right there. Dead. Can you imagine if you had had to leave elite gymnastics because you got pregnant at twenty?"_

"A nightmare that continues to haunt me," JJ sighed dramatically, making the other two laugh. "Just do me a favour and don't tell anyone else, last thing I need is for Marta to find out there were three days before Worlds where I thought I was _pregnant_ "

Aly burst out laughing. _"Could you imagine? 'JJ, how could you be so careless?'"_

"That accent was almost spot on," JJ laughed.

"Is that actually what Marta sounds like?" Will asked incredulously. "How the hell do you understand her?"

This time, both the girls laughed.

"A shit load of practice," JJ giggled. "You get used to her eventually. You just have to not make her angry. Because then the accent goes from 'hard to understand' to 'freaking terrifying'"

" _Amen,"_ Aly added, raising her hands in the air. _"I'll let you two lovebirds go, I gotta go do my conditioning. Mihai says my Brestyan legs aren't up to scratch"_

JJ laughed. "Nick told me the other day if I'm getting rips from bars, I'm not doing bars hard enough. Could've punched him, quite honestly, by the time I got that rip, I couldn't even _feel_ my hands"

" _I'd be the same. I'll call you again tomorrow, same time?"_

"Sounds good"

" _Keep out of trouble my crazies"_

And with that, Aly ended the call, leaving JJ and Will chuckling to themselves.

Oh how different Aly Raisman was when there were no TV cameras around.


	93. Chapter 93

**A/N: I know it's kinda quick, but here's the AmCup! I wanted to upload tonight so only did huge detail on one event.**

 **If you've ever watched an American Cup broadcast, you'll know they skip women's vault for the first round and start from bars, hence why I started there too.**

* * *

" _We are on the road to Rio, where we will find out who will get the glory the Olympic Games can give. Four years ago in London, Gabby Douglas found out. She was the best of the best. The Olympic all-around gold medallist. But now she's trying to do the hardest thing anyone can do; get back to be where she once was. Today, the next logical step. The 2016 AT &T American Cup!"_

For the first competition of her 2016 season, with only three months off full intensity training under her belt after a break following Worlds, JJ was feeling pretty good. Vault had gotten off to a good start. JJ had done the cleanest Amanar of her entire career to earn a 15.866 to start off her competition. Gabby had followed with a double twisting Yurchenko that earned a very respectable 15.100

" _We are live at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, also known as The Rock, the home of the New Jersey Devils, the competition is already underway. And Gabby Douglas is in great shape, she's just a few tenths away from number one after a great vault, we'll get to that in a moment. The United States historically does well in this event. Donnell Whittenburg of the United States on the men's side is also doing very well. Sam Mikulak is warming up on the vault. I'm Al Trautwig along with a pair of Olympic gold medallists, it's always an honour, Nastia Liukin, and... I'm sorry... Tim Daggett"_

" _It's going to be an interesting dynamic here today, because Gabby Douglas is actually the second American competing today; the first is World all-around silver medallist, Jennifer Jareau. Now... this is JJ's first real chance to win an international, or even national, all-around competition. In London, Gabby was the stronger of the two, and now, JJ is probably by far, the strongest gymnast in the country apart from Simone Biles. So it's going to be an interesting competition I think, it's JJ's chance to shine as an all-arounder, but it's Gabby's chance to prove she can be what she once was"_

JJ was going up next on the uneven bars. She was taking a bit of a risk, debuting her new bars routine after what was a considerably short period of training time, but the skills were there. It was the mental toughness and keeping her nerves in check that needed to be tested out.

" _On uneven bars, representing USA, Jennifer Jareau!"_

Saluting, JJ habitually adjusted her grips as she turned to face the low bar. Readying her hands behind her for the swing, she took a deep breath, and jumped.

Her glide kip was as smooth as always. Next came her Shaposh transition, a skill she had always been capable of but had never utilised in a competition routine. Relying on her muscle memory, she pulled herself into handstand, before bringing her toes down to the bar as she swung around into a full pirouette. Keeping the momentum, she swung through a stalder, before releasing into a Piked Tkatchev. Catching the bar easily, she let go into her Pak transition down to the low bar. Another stalder, this time with one and a half turns atop the bar before shooting back to the high. Half turn... front giant... half turn into stalder with a full turn... giant swing...

With a satisfying _ping_ from the high bar, she flicked off into a soaring full twisting double layout, landing it easily on her feet with only one step forward to steady herself.

" _Wow! She's put in some serious work on bars!"_

" _That was really good, in fact... if she keeps that up, she could quite easily make the Olympic final"_

She was beaming as she high fived Nick on her way down the stairs, getting a congratulatory smile from Gabby as she passed her.

"Nice job!" said Ellie Black, the Canadian gymnast who was sitting beside her. "New routine?"

JJ nodded, taking a sip from her water bottle. "Was it that obvious I was just praying I stayed on?"

Ellie laughed, shaking her head. "Nah, it just looked different to the one you did at Worlds. But good job, you nailed it!"

"Thanks," JJ beamed, pulling her grips off and tucking them away into her grips bag. Just two more events to go.

* * *

Beam had been, as was her custom, a walk in the park for JJ. The inconsistency she had shown in late 2014 to early 2015 had been completely blown out of the water with a routine worthy of Aly's 'angry beam' remarks. Gabby had nailed her routine as well, settling the two of them easily into the top spot as they headed around to floor.

JJ hadn't paid a huge deal of attention to the gymnasts before her. She'd caught a glimpse of Ellie's famous 2.5 stepout pass, as well as a little of Gabby's routine, but before long, she was mounting the podium herself.

" _On floor exercise, representing USA, Jennifer Jareau!"_

A thrilling cheer ran through the building as she saluted and stepped into place.

She was still using her old music for now, but her tumbles had been reworked. Her double layout was now her first pass, as she and Nick were hoping to get an upgrade in place before Nationals. Full of energy, she took off into it, rebounding high off the floor to execute two solid flips.

" _Oh that's strange, I thought she was doing her double double first"_

A little choreo, before taking off into her double double, which was looking stronger than it had in the previous year.

" _She's flip flopped the order on me... I wonder why, the double double is a harder pass"_

" _Possibly looking to upgrade the layout before later in the season, I'd guess"_

Thoroughly enjoying her performance, she danced through the next section of choreography, making sure she hit her leaps as perfectly as she could manage.

Next up was her Arabian double front. Feeling as though it would possibly go awry if she attempted the connections they'd been working on, she settled for just competing the double front; the American Cup was a big event, but it was not worth an injury. Nothing was.

By the time she'd put her feet to the floor on her final pass, the people in the arena were cheering ecstatically for her. She finished with a flourish, before breaking into a huge smile as she turned and saluted the judges, waving to the crowd before walking off to where Nick was waiting.

"Great job kiddo," he said, beaming as he pulled her into a hug. "Looked really good from down here"

A short while later, her score went up to ecstatic applause.

15.033. Meaning she, Jennifer Jareau, had secured her first international all-around title.

She couldn't wipe the smile off her face as she waved to the TV cameras that insisted on following her around, as she hugged and congratulated each of her competitors on a great competition, or as she and Gabby posed for a beaming photo of the two American superstars of the Cup.

She had been gunning for Nationals, Worlds, or Olympics as her target.

But American Cup Champion was a pretty good place to start.

* * *

 _ **American Cup champion, YAS! It's been an intense three months getting into competition shape, but it paid off. So excited for the rest of the season!**_

The caption was accompanied by a photo of JJ excitedly holding the women's all-around trophy she had been awarded that evening. Ryohei Kato of Japan had nabbed the men's title, sharing the podium with JJ in the awards ceremony.

While it was just the American Cup, it still meant a huge deal to JJ. She'd been working solidly all quad to prove herself as an all-arounder, and here she was, having faced off against the reigning Olympic all-around champion, with the title securely in her own hands.

It was a confidence boost she'd been waiting for, and most certainly, a bright spot in what had been a very dark couple of months for her personally.

She couldn't help but feel as though things were most definitely looking up.


	94. Chapter 94

**A/N: Honest to god, have your tissues ready.**

* * *

"As a gymnast, you've trained your entire life to be within a millimetre of perfection with everything you do. However, when it comes to your floor routine, you actually have to let that philosophy go," Teagan explained as she stood beside the stereo mounted to the wall by the floor. "It's important to feel the music, to express yourself with the routine. That might mean the choreography looks different every time you do it, but that's half the point really. Music is made to be felt by everyone, and everyone may feel it differently. You have always been _good_ on floor, but this year, I think it's very possible to make your routine _great_ "

JJ grinned, nodding in agreement.

"Now, you said you wanted this new routine to be for your dad, and you mentioned he's got some Scottish heritage that he's proud of, so I've been playing around with some music and I came up with something that I hope you're going to like"

Turning to the stereo, she pressed play.

The gym was immediately filled with the sounds of traditional Scottish music, yet, even so, it had a modern twist to it that immediately drew JJ in. It was so different to anything JJ had ever had before, and only ten seconds in, she was beaming from ear to ear.

"I love it!" she exclaimed, making Teagan's face light up.

"It's different, but I thought it would suit you. Now, the piece I have cut is a little longer than ninety seconds, but you heard that the intro is quite suitable for a held position, so if we delay your start by at least five seconds, it should be ok"

Half an hour later, Teagan and JJ were in the thick of choreographing the first part of the routine, while Nick watched from by his office. It had been a couple of months since Teagan had officially joined their team, and she and JJ got along like a house on fire. Teagan had eagerly taken on the responsibility of working JJ's new floor routine, and so far, Nick was very happy with that decision.

"This music is quite dramatic, so it's important to think about your expressions as your dance. Or better yet... don't think. Just act," Teagan said with a smile. "Let's run through the first part with the music"

Nick watched on as Teagan started the music and JJ focused herself onto the routine. They had choreographed about twenty seconds of the music, and he was quietly impressed with Teagan's ability as a choreographer. JJ, for the most part, made it through the choreography without a hitch.

Grinning, Nick nodded happily to himself.

It was exactly the type of routine Marta was going to love, and exactly the type of routine he knew JJ was going to extend her capabilities with. And he couldn't wait to watch her compete it for the first time.

* * *

She'd arrived home from training to find the house empty; she vaguely remembered her dad mentioning a hospital appointment that morning. Her mind was filled with dance sections, skills connections, execution tips, everything they had worked on in practice that morning. The national team camp was coming up in a little over a week, and that was when Marta was selecting the team for the Pacific Rim Championships. Seeing as Simone was likely to headline that team, JJ wanted to make the cut for the event as well; she wanted to help the USA have a strong international start to the year.

She quickly showered to rinse off the chalk, and pulled on her running clothes and shoes. Grabbing her phone and her earbuds from her bedside table, she headed out onto the landing, closing the door behind her as she put one of her earbuds in her ear.

As she made her way down the stairs, she could make out the sounds of two people talking quietly in what sounded like the kitchen. Realising her parents must have come home while she was showering, she headed towards the sound, smiling as she did. She was eager to tell them about her new floor routine.

Walking into the room, she found her parents sitting at the table, talking in hushed voices. They looked strained... upset even. In fact, JJ noticed as she looked closer, her mom's eyes were awfully red.

Had her mom been crying?

"Hi," she said uncertainly, slowly pulling her earbud back out of her ear.

"Hey sweetie, how was training?" Sandy asked, clearly fighting to keep her voice level. Michael squeezed her hands tightly, a gesture that didn't go unnoticed by JJ.

"Fine... what's going on?" JJ asked slowly, looking worriedly between her mother and father for some sort of clue as to why they seemed so upset.

Michael took a deep breath, turning to face his daughter. Suddenly, in the dull light, his skin seemed grey, his cheekbones protruding further than JJ had ever noticed before. For the first time, he actually looked like a person who was seriously ill.

"There's something we need to talk about... I think you should sit down," he said gently.

"I'm fine standing," JJ said quickly, before repeating her earlier words. "What's going on?"

Choosing not to argue with her, Michael glanced down at his hands, swallowing thickly as he tried to find his voice.

"I had my monthly checkup today," he started in a quiet murmur, just loud enough for JJ and Sandy to hear. Lifting his face, he brought his gaze back to meet JJ's. "And... it wasn't good"

The last three words were all it took for JJ to feel like the air was starting to slowly drain out of her lungs.

"JJ... the chemo isn't working anymore... the cancer is spreading too fast and too far," Michael explained, his body language softening towards his daughter as he noticed the colour slowly starting to leave her face.

"But there's other treatments... radiation, and-"

Michael shook his head. "It's spread too much for radiation to be effective anymore. Radiation would just shorten the time I have left"

"Time you have left?" JJ repeated, disbelief dripping from every word. "Dad..."

"There's nothing they can do," her father said gently; it was almost remarkable how calm he was. "I'm dying, JJ, the cancer's just too advanced"

She felt like the room had started to spin, like her lungs had collapsed in on themselves and refused to draw anymore air. Instinctively, she took a step back, barely noticing that her mother had collapsed in a sobbing heap on the table, that her father had stood up and was reaching out towards her.

"JJ-"

"No, don't!" JJ yelled, her focus snapping back into blinding clarity as she took two more steps back; she was now standing under the doorframe. Her mom's shaking form was just visible out of the corner of her eye, but instead of sending her into hysterics as well, it only emboldened her anger.

Turning on her heel, she stormed through the front passageway, her world blinded by seething hatred as she wrenched the front door open and hurried out into the cool spring air. Even as her dad called out for her to come back, she slammed the door behind her again, hitting the frame with such force that two of the frosted glass panes cracked clean in two.

* * *

Her mind was nothing but a numb, blank canvas. She'd walked at first, with no clear sense of where she was going, but when the anger had started to be replaced with an impending sense of doom, she'd broken into a run.

She only came to her senses when she realised she was walking across the parking lot of Romero's Gymnastics Academy, heading directly for the double glass doors that led into the familiar comfort of the gym foyer.

Silently, she entered, walking somewhat calmly through the foyer, past the change rooms, and out towards the gym floor.

It was peak recreational hour, with kids in every which direction, but Nick was clearly visible amongst them, training a group of level tens as well as Kate and Clem on the beams. Kate and two of the younger kids were standing on a beam each, while the others stood grouped at the end, waiting their turns.

"Ground yourself out of every skill, because the second you're too high, if you're doubting yourself, it's all going to come unravelled," he was saying to them as they listened intently.

Kate flicked her eyes up, suddenly spotting JJ in the bustle of the gym.

"Uh... Nick," she said softly, gesturing behind him.

Nick whirled around, frowning when his eyes landed on JJ.

"Hey... I don't have you back until three," he said quietly, his confusion evident.

She was just about to open her mouth to speak, when it all suddenly hit her. Tears cascaded down her cheeks faster than she could try to stop them, accompanied by great gasping sobs that rendered her feeling immediately dizzy.

Nick barely hesitated, rushing forward and wrapping JJ up in a tight hug. Not only had he never seen her get so upset so fast... he'd never seen her so upset, period.

"What happened?" he asked, and JJ heard something in his voice she had never heard from him before; fear.

"My dad," JJ sobbed, her hands shaking terribly as she clutched at Nick's shirt. Her voice was trembling so badly that it was piercing Nick's chest in the most painful way. "He's end stage... Nick... he's going to die"

And with that, she crumbled completely, time seeming to stop altogether as Nick hurriedly guided her away from the prying eyes of about thirty curious children. Her face was buried in his chest, her tears soaking the front of his shirt, her body shaking with the tragedy of what her family was now facing. He kept a tight hold on her, keeping her supported as he led her towards the offices, directing Teagan to take his place with a single jerk of the head as they passed her at the front desk.

When they were in his office, shielded from the wondering looks of both parents and children alike, he wrapped her back into his embrace, tears burning his eyes as she shook beneath him.

"JJ," Nick breathed, fighting to keep his voice steady. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry"

She couldn't reply, she couldn't speak.

All she could do was break down.

* * *

It had taken nearly an hour and a mug of steaming hot chocolate before Nick had managed to calm JJ down enough to stop her from going into shock or hyperventilating. He had offered to drive her home, but she had refused; she needed to process it away from home.

And so she had taken up residence beside the floor, perched on a foam block as she watched the kids practicing their first optional floor routines. Some of them had smiled and waved at her, and despite how awful she was now feeling inside, she had managed to smile back at them.

She'd been sitting there for about half an hour when Nick came and sat down beside.

"JJ... I just spoke to Marta, and we've both agreed to pull you from this selection camp, which withdraws you from the Pac Rims team," he said gently. "Unless you want to go"

Numbly, JJ shook her head. All the excitement about her routine, about Pac Rims, about everything gymnastics related had been pushed deep in the back of her mind. None of it even felt worth anything anymore.

"She's not going to say anything to anyone until you're ready for them to know," Nick continued. "I also want you to take a couple of days away from training"

JJ nodded, still refusing to open her mouth or look at him.

"And," Nick said slowly, reaching out and tipping her chin towards the edge of the floor. "Someone's here to see you"

Her eyes fell on her father, standing at the edge of the floor with a wan smile on his face. She felt a sob bubble up inside her at the sight of him, but still, she stood up, walking over to him and straight into his embrace.

"Shh," he said softly as the hustle and bustle of the gym carried on around them. "It's alright"

"How did... you know where... I was?" JJ sobbed, burying her face in his jacket as he held her as tightly as he possibly could.

"Lucky guess," Michael said softly, rubbing her back gently. "Why don't we get out of here? I think we deserve some ice-cream"

JJ couldn't argue, simply allowing her dad to guide her from the gym and out into the car. It was hard to believe he was dying... he still seemed so strong. Granted, he was thinner and paler than usual, but he still moved with the swiftness she had always known him to have.

She stayed completely silent in the car as he drove them to their favourite ice-cream place which lay about halfway between the gym and their house. They had frequented it many a time on the way home from practice.

Her dad had gone inside and left her in the car, returning ten minutes later with two huge takeaway cups of ice-cream. She'd hardly touched hers, only staring sadly down at it as he drove them through town.

Eventually, they wound up at the old lookout. From there, they could see almost all of East Allegheny, and right in the distance, the white box that was the gym, much closer to Pittsburgh.

"I know it sucks... I know you're angry," Michael said softly after some time had passed. "Trust me... I wanted to rip my oncologist limb from limb until he changed the report, but I figured spending the rest of my life in prison wasn't really worth it"

"It's horrible," JJ said, finally speaking up. Lifting her face to look at her dad, her eyes welled with tears once more. "What am I going to do without you?"

"As much as it breaks my heart to think of all the things I'm going to miss out on," Michael started softly, "I think you're going to be just fine"

"How long do you have?" JJ asked, her stomach churning; did she really want the answer?

"Maybe six months," Michael replied, watching, heartbroken, as JJ started to cry again. "Just long enough to see Rio if I'm lucky"

"I don't give a shit about Rio anymore," JJ sobbed.

"Yes you do," Michael said, his voice catching in his throat as he reached out and squeezed JJ's hand. "Sweetheart, right now, you're angry, you're upset, you're hurting. I know, deep down under all this hurt, you do care about the Olympics because it's what you've been working the last four years for. I want you to promise me something"

JJ didn't speak, wiping the stray tears from her cheeks as she gazed down at her lap.

"Don't let this disease take away the dream you're so close to reaching," Michael said softly. "If you give up now because of the cancer, then the cancer wins"

"It's already won," JJ sobbed.

"Not a chance in hell," Michael replied, stretching over the console to pull JJ into a hug.

Kissing the top of her head, he finally allowed the tears he'd been holding in all day to fall.

"I'm so sorry, baby girl"


	95. Chapter 95

**A/N: Dialogue based chapter but I really like it!**

* * *

 _ **Haven't heard from you for a couple of days. Everything ok?**_

 _ **Have I upset you? Can you at least text me so I know you're still alive?**_

 _ **JJ, I'm getting a little worried, can you call me?**_

 _ **Babe, you're scaring me, what's going on?**_

The messages had sat untouched on JJ's phone for three days. She'd listened as the phone buzzed every so often, as it rang out a couple of times. But still, she'd ignored it.

Doing as Nick had asked, she'd stayed home from training. As a result, she had just stayed holed up in her room, binge watching _Modern Family_ , refusing to really speak to anyone. Apart from Will, only Aly had tried to contact her, sending a message about how excited she was for the upcoming camp, but like the others, JJ hadn't replied.

"JJ, I've made some lunch if you're hungry," came her mother's voice from the slightly open door. JJ shook her head, keeping her eyes fixed pointedly on her TV.

The mattress shifted, making JJ turn. Her mom was now sitting just beside her, looking thoroughly concerned.

"You can't spend the rest of your life hiding from it," she said softly, reaching out and squeezing JJ's hand. "Have you spoken to Will?"

"No," JJ whispered, still avoiding her mother's gaze.

"Looks like he wants to talk to you," Sandy pushed gently as JJ's phone buzzed again. Glancing down at the newest message, she looked pointedly at her daughter. "He seems worried"

"How are you so ok with this?" JJ snapped suddenly, making Sandy jump. "How?"

"I'm not," Sandy replied firmly. "I'm not, JJ. But you know what? There's _nothing_ we can do to change that. All we have now is the time we have left... and we have to make the most of it. If it means putting up a brave face when you feel like your world is falling apart, then so be it"

JJ watched, heartbroken, as tears began to well in her mother's eyes.

"I've loved your father for 34 years... for 34 years, he's been the rock at the center of my world. We've had a wonderful life, with its ups and downs... we married young, settled down, built a life... a family. One of our children may not still be here, but the two that are have made us prouder than we could care to imagine. I can't believe this is how our life together is going to end, but there's nothing I can do to make a difference in that. It's awful, and it hurts, but we have to just take it head on. We might have six months, we might have four, we might have a year... in the end, all that matters is that we have always grabbed life by the horns and made the most of everything we had. But we have to remember that we're not in this alone... this is a battle we fight together"

Sliding across the bed, JJ wrapped her arms around her mom, the horrible knot in her stomach starting to loosen as her mom returned the embrace. In the shock of the news, it had escaped her realisation that everyone else in their family was taking the prognosis just as badly.

Her mom may have spoken of Michael being the rock of the family... but right now, for JJ, her mom was the strongest person she knew. She couldn't imagine facing the same situation with Will and being as calm and collected as her mom was right now.

"Don't push everyone away," Sandy said softly, pulling back so she could see JJ's face. "You're going to need all the support you can get this year with everything going on"

"I don't want to think about the Olympics," JJ breathed.

"Then don't think about them. Think about gymnastics. Just take it one step at a time," Sandy said, brushing JJ's hair back from her eyes.

"Dad wants me to keep going," JJ replied softly, lifting her eyes to meet her mom's. "I'm not sure right now what I want to do... part of me wants to throw in the towel now, but something is stopping me"

"Because, deep down, I think you still want to do gymnastics. You're just experiencing an emotional shock"

JJ fell into a tense silence, studying her hands as her mom watched her closely.

"We don't want to pressure you into something you're not feeling capable of handling... but the day he was diagnosed... your dad took the news very well, and you want to know why?"

JJ looked up expectantly.

"He knew he was going home to watch you compete in qualifications at Worlds. To him, nothing matters more, nothing makes him happier, than seeing you perform well in the sport you've trained your whole life. And it's not out of being a pushy gym parent... it just gives him so much joy to watch you compete"

Nodding, JJ sighed. She knew that her gymnastics was one of the things her father was always most passionate about. As well as that, it was becoming clearer that both of her parents were right; somewhere, deep inside, that passionate flame to go back to the Olympics was still burning.

"I'll think about it," she said slowly. "I do still love gymnastics... and maybe it'll give Dad something to take his mind off... everything else"

Managing a smile, Sandy wrapped her arms around JJ, giving her a warm hug of the type only a mother could give.

JJ's phone buzzed again.

"I think you should go and see Will before he files a missing persons report"

* * *

An hour later, she was knocking on the heavy wooden door of Will's apartment.

"Two seconds!" he yelled from somewhere inside.

A few moments later, the door was pulled open to reveal Will hastily tugging a T-shirt down over his midsection.

"Oh, hey, I wasn't expecting it to be you... aren't you supposed to be at training?" he asked, clearly worried and confused as he stepped aside to let JJ in.

"Sort of," JJ said softly as he closed the door.

"The only thing stopping me from... I don't know, calling the police, was that your parents would've called me if something had happened to you... JJ, what's going on? You haven't answered any of my messages, you've been ignoring my calls... I've been really worried about you," Will said gently, taking a step towards her.

Right now was her chance to tell him, but she felt like she was tongue tied. It had seemed so _easy_ to just come over and explain what was going on, but suddenly, it was nearly impossible to force the words out of her mouth.

"Is everything alright?" Will asked, bringing a hand up to rest gently on her upper arm.

The dam broke and she started to cry, her hands shaking as she brought them up to her face. Will responded in the only way he knew how; gathering her into a tight hug and letting her cry into his chest.

"My dad's dying," she sobbed, her voice muffled by his shirt. "They've given him six months"

Will felt like his stomach had dropped through the floor; he held JJ tighter, tipping his chin down and pressing a comforting kiss to the top of her head. What did you say to someone who was losing their father to cancer?

"That's so fucked, JJ... babe... I'm so sorry," he said quietly, rocking her slightly from side to side as her sobs quietened down a little.

Neither of them spoke again for nearly fifteen minutes, by which time, JJ's tears had subsided completely, leaving her pale and red eyed as Will rubbed the small of her back comfortingly.

"Have you eaten today?" Will asked quietly, finally breaking the silence.

JJ shook her head.

"I'm gonna make you something to eat... I feel like you haven't taken care of yourself very well the last couple of days," he said knowingly, taking her hand and gently guiding her to sit on the counter stool at his kitchen bench.

Normally, JJ would have protested; she was too numb to eat. But the quiet concern in his voice was enough for her to placidly allow him to guide her along.

She sat in silence as she watched him make a batch of scrambled eggs, Will glancing at her over his shoulder every so often.

Ten minutes later, he placed a plate of eggs down in front of her and passed her a fork.

She wasn't exceptionally hungry, she thought as she picked aimlessly at the food. But, to appease Will, she took a bite. Almost immediately, her stomach growled; she was ravenous. It didn't take long before the plate was completely clean, and Will was wearing a satisfied smile.

"Better?" he asked gently as he cleared the dishes away.

"Loads," JJ replied.

"There's a bit more colour in your face now," Will told her, before leaning down on the counter and taking her hands in his. "Are you coping alright?"

JJ shrugged. "I think so? I mean... I don't have a point of reference. In any respect... my mom and dad are pretty calm. Upset, but calm. I just... I don't know. It's a lot to process," she explained in a small voice. Flicking her eyes up to Will's, she took a deep breath. "I thought about quitting gymnastics"

"Are you going to?" Will asked calmly.

"I seriously considered it... but I had a talk with my mom earlier, and it made me realise... gymnastics has been the one constant in my life. Through all the bad shit that's ever happened, I've always had a safe place in that gym, I've always had someone to turn to in Nick... and it makes my dad happy," JJ rambled. "Up until this afternoon, I wasn't sure what I wanted to do, but now I think... I'm going to keep going. Because my dad needs something to keep his spirits up, he needs something to look forward to... and I think I'd miss it too much if I quit now"

"I think you'll find you hold onto it even more this year than you ever had before," Will said knowingly, walking around the counter to give JJ another hug.

As she relaxed into his hold, JJ managed her first real smile in days.

Life was throwing some pretty hard curveballs. Shit was going to get tough, she knew that.

But gymnastics had always been her crutch. And she was going to continue to allow it that role in her life, because there were still dreams to make a reality, there was still room to improve, and there were still a million smiles to make appear on her father's face.


	96. Chapter 96

**A/N: Can anyone pick the line I recycled from an earlier chapter? Haha!**

* * *

After five days out of the gym following the news, JJ had been incredibly surprised one morning to wake up and find herself itching to be back in training. So she had risen, dressed, and headed out to the gym after giving her mom and dad a tight hug each.

Nick had been pleasantly surprised to see her and had immediately obliged to continue her training. After only ten minutes, she was already smiling and laughing as Nick and Teagan joked with her, and it had felt nothing short of incredible, like all the weight and darkness had been lifted from her shoulders.

Once she'd come home, she had called Aly, finally telling her what was going on, with a fair amount of difficulty. Aly had been heartbroken for her, but again, JJ had felt better after saying it out loud to her best friend.

And now, she was about to do something she'd never imagined herself having the courage to do.

Having noticed a flurry of concern surrounding her mysterious withdrawal from the Pacific Rim Championships team selection, JJ had decided to set the record straight before any weird rumours started flying. Having discussed it with her parents, she had then sat down to write out the longest social media post she was sure she would ever make.

Accompanying it was a picture of the night after she had won the beam final in London. She and Aly had both been taken to Team USA House to see their parents, and Michael had wrapped his daughter in a loving hug, tears of pride in his eyes as Sandy snapped a picture of the two; the picture that was now going to be accompanying the most heartbreaking news of JJ's life.

 _ **I love this picture so much. My dad has always been so proud to watch me represent the United States of America on the international stage, and it fills me with so much pride and joy to go out there and represent not only my country, but the parents who raised me to be the person I am today. I wouldn't be half the athlete, half the competitor, half the PERSON I am now if it wasn't for their endless love and support, and the wonderful advice they've always had for me.**_

 _ **This is the hardest thing I have ever had to say on a public platform… and I'm not doing it for sympathy. I'm doing it because you guys, my fans, have always shown me love and support, and I feel you deserve to know the truth about why I withdrew from Pac Rim selection. I want people to know what's going on from my own words, not from warped rumours and assumptions.**_

 _ **Last year, when I was in Glasgow for Worlds, my dad was diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer. Colon cancer is a bitch of a disease to have in the first place, but to have it at stage 4 is a whole different battle. Because we're a family of champions, he took the news like a pro and focused all his energy on beating the beast. I wasn't allowed to worry about him, because if I let his illness interrupt my gymnastics, he would've disowned me *laughing face***_

 _ **Just last week, we learned from his monthly checkup that the cancer is spreading faster than the treatment can kill it. There's nothing more that they can do for him, and now, all they can really do is manage his pain and try to improve his quality of life.**_

 _ **My dad is dying. He has maybe six months. It's been… the worst week of my life. I felt like nothing mattered anymore. Right now… I'm really not ok, and it's so hard for me to admit that. But given time, I will be. I still have gymnastics, I still have my family, Will, my team… I'm not giving up my sport, because it's the only thing in the world that never fails to make my dad smile. I'm seeing this season through, and I'm giving it everything I have. I'm going to make that team going to Rio, and I'm going to do it for my dad. I want the time he has left to be filled with pride and joy, rather than pain and grief. So it sucks, it sucks majorly. But my dad is tougher than this disease, by a thousand times, and so I will be too.**_

 _ **Thank you all so much for all the support these last few months, my family and I really appreciate it. Please keep sending thoughts of love and strength our way… I think we're going to need it.**_

A solitary tear rolled down her cheek as she finished rereading the post. Taking a deep breath, she tapped 'share', sending the post out into the public domain.

Setting her phone down beside her, she looked up towards her display shelf. Just the previous day, she had pulled her Olympic medals back out of the safe and reinstated them to their central position of pride.

Those medals represented the pivotal moments in her career, moments when not only her own hard work had paid off, but her parents' as well.

In the wake of the grief surrounding her father's new prognosis, the medals had gone from causing her stress to providing her with a sense of comfort and motivation.

Wiping away the track left by the tear, she sucked up a deep breath as her phone buzzed beside her with the first comment on her post.

Picking up the device, she opened the app back up.

 _ **olympichampionedits: oh my god… JJ, I really have no words! I was hoping and praying your dad would get better, I'm so sorry it's come to this. Never forget you have the continued love and support of myself and many others in the gymternet *heart* I'm thinking of you every day, and I'm absolutely sure you can make that team, but I know that whether you do or you don't, your dad will be proud of you! Much love *heart***_

Fighting back tears as a watery smile crossed her face, all she could do was like the comment, before she had to set the phone down and recompose herself.

But deep down inside, her desire had steeled itself.

She was going to make that team.

Come hell or high water, she was going to Rio.


	97. Chapter 97

**A/N: Yay for filler chapters! Are you getting excited for later on in the story?**

* * *

April had flown past, bringing with it a string of news and events. The Pacific Rim Championships had been a huge success for the American team, with the US girls having won the team title. Simone had had her 2016 debut go off without a hitch, debuting her new upgrades on the way to winning the Pacific Rim all-around title. 2016 was shaping up to be the capstone on an illustrious quad for the talented young gymnast.

The Olympic test event in mid April had flown past, qualifying the remaining four teams and individual countries and gymnasts to the Games. Much to the surprise of girls like JJ and Aly, who had somewhat followed the sport most of their lives, the teams from Romania and Australia had failed to qualify, meaning both would only be sending a single gymnast to the Olympics. For Romania, it was going to be the first time in four decades that they wouldn't win an Olympic team medal.

Will's birthday had come up so quickly by the end of April, JJ had very nearly forgotten about it. But, thankfully, she remembered with enough time to organize a celebration for him, including getting his parents up for the weekend from New Orleans, and bringing Aly down from Boston. Coupling them with some of their friends from school, it had quickly turned into a loud, raucous celebration.

"Will looks like he's having fun," Aly snorted as Will lost his balance taking a shot at beer pong with his mates. JJ giggled, taking a sip from her drink, nearly inhaling it when Will completely fell over and caused everyone to start laughing.

Over in the corner of the patio, both of their parents, as well as Aly's mom, were sitting on the outdoor lounges, watching the younger crowd with much amusement. JJ was just happy to see her father smiling and laughing. He certainly didn't look well, but tonight, there was more light and joy in his eyes.

"Hey… hey," Will said through a dopey grin as he made his way towards JJ. Looping an arm around her waist, he kissed her cheek as Aly giggled.

"I love you," he said as seriously as he could manage.

"I love you too," JJ replied with a grin, patting his cheek. "Go play with your friends"

Aly laughed as Will planted a kiss to JJ's lips, before heading back over to the new round of beer pong that had broken out in his absence.

"That tasted like beer," JJ said, wrinkling her nose in disgust and taking a sip of her drink as Aly giggled.

"Lovely," Aly chuckled.

It was going to be a good night.

* * *

 _ **I feel so terrible for JJ… do you think she can make the team?**_

 _I know, it's so sad. I think now, for JJ, the question isn't if she can make the team, it's if she can hold it together long enough to make the team. She's always been very real as a person, and lately, she's been opening up more and more, which makes me wonder if it's getting harder for her to keep her emotions in check and her only good outlet is to be real with her followers on social media. She's absolutely capable of making the team, in fact, I think she's very much a lock for the team, it's just going to depend on whether she can hold it together emotionally with everything else going on in her life right now._

 _ **At this point in time, what would your Olympic team be and who would you say would make finals?**_

 _Right now, I'd probably take Simone Biles, Jennifer Jareau, Aly Raisman, Mykayla Skinner, and a bars worker like Ashton Locklear or Madison Kocian (Kocian is injured right now, otherwise I'd be a hundred percent for her)._

 _As for finals, well… it's looking something like this right now:_

 _AA – Biles, Jareau  
VT – Biles, Jareau (I know Mykayla is more typically a vaulter, but JJ is generally a lot cleaner and would probably score higher)  
UB – Locklear/Kocian, Jareau  
BB – Jareau, Biles  
FX – Biles, Raisman/Jareau (they're both about equal now)_

 _There's a lot up in the air. I think the first three spots on the team are pretty much guaranteed to go to Biles, Jareau, and Raisman. The fourth spot could go to Nichols, Skinner, Hernandez, Smith… basically anyone who's a decent all-arounder and complements the first three, and the last spot will be whichever bars worker looks the strongest after the three selection meets._

* * *

"We're going to training. Will's upstairs with the hangover of a century… someone might wanna check he's still breathing in about half an hour," JJ said with a grin as she poked her head into the lounge room, where her mom was sitting with Will's parents.

William chuckled. "That'll put him off anything alcoholic for a while"

"Have fun, please don't hurt yourself," Sandy said seriously, giving her daughter a smile.

"See you in a few hours," JJ replied, turning towards the front door with Aly just behind her.

There was only one more camp between them and the start of the selection process. All the girls on the national team would attend the final camp at the end of May. The next camp, held in mid July, would be only for the eight members selected for the Olympic squad – five team members, and three alternates.

For that reason, it seemed as though everyone was under the pump to bring their absolute best to the final camp, leaving Marta with a good impression before they headed into the selection meets.

For JJ, Aly, and Gabby, it was an all too familiar process. They had received many supportive messages from McKayla and Kyla, both of whom had officially retired in February after a long period of struggling to get back to their best level.

To JJ and Aly, it was the last and steepest bit of the hill, a hill that JJ had been climbing since the conclusion of the 2012 Olympic Games.

She was so close to reaching it… now was the time to put forth everything she had. She was too close to even think of giving up now.


	98. Chapter 98

**A/N: Ramping up now!**

 **If you haven't watched The Ranch, you should, it's super interesting!**

* * *

The last national team camp had arrived in such a flurry that it was hard to believe it was almost over. It was now their second last night at the ranch, with one final training session the following morning.

Sinking back onto her mattress, JJ closed her eyes as Aly rustled around in her bag. On the bunk above JJ, Gabby was immersed in her music, her headphones blocking out her surroundings as she nodded away to the beat of the song.

She'd expected to be inundated with sympathy upon arriving at the camp, which was something she'd been dreading. Luckily, all the girls had been incredibly understanding about giving her space and carrying on like nothing was wrong. Because that had been exactly what she needed; to march into the US domestic season with her head held high and nothing fazing her.

"Oh my god, JJ, Will keeps sending me selfies," Aly laughed, breaking JJ's reverie. "And they're really unattractive… oh wait, no, he sent them to our group chat, so you'll get them too. Please keep them as blackmail"

"He sent me one this morning that was so blurry I couldn't tell what it was, but I'm hoping against hope it wasn't a picture of his ass," JJ replied, giggling.

"Hope he didn't send that one to me, I'd have to disown both of you," Aly laughed, sinking down onto the edge of her bed.

Opening her eyes again, JJ looked over at Aly with a grin. She actually felt considerably more relaxed and happy than she had felt since March, like half of the weight had lifted from her chest.

Just as she was opening her mouth to speak to Aly again, something moved out of the corner of her eye, drawing her attention to the slats running beneath Gabby's bunk.

She wasn't expecting to find herself face to face with a lizard roughly the size of a football.

"Holy SHIT!" she shrieked, launching herself out of her bunk.

"What!" Aly yelled, jumping up in shock, nearly dropping her phone as she did.

"There's a massive lizard in my bed!" JJ cried, pointing towards the bunk. By now, Gabby had removed her headphones, looking in confusion between her two teammates.

"A lizard?" she asked, frowning. JJ nodded, watching as Gabby leaned over the edge of the bunk and lowered herself down until she could see beneath her bed.

When she did, she screamed.

"OH MY GOD!" she shrieked, leaping up and moving as far towards the other end of the mattress as she could. Meanwhile, Aly had inched closer, leaning down to get a look.

"Eww! You were lying in there Jayje, what if it had fallen on you?" she asked somewhat hysterically as she straightened up.

"Don't even go there," JJ said threateningly.

They were interrupted by the lizard deciding he no longer liked his perch and dropping onto JJ's mattress with a flick of the tongue. All three girls screamed.

"What, what!" came the voice of Simone as she burst into the room, her phone held aloft in her hand, Christina Desiderio and Alyssa Baumann right behind her. Her eyes fell almost immediately on the lizard, prompting her to join the shrieking.

"I'll go get Norah, she's braver than us!" Alyssa yelled over the commotion, turning on her heel and sprinting out of the room.

"I'm never touching those sheets again," JJ moaned, inching slowly towards the door.

"That is one big lizard!" Simone exclaimed breathlessly.

"That's not a lizard Simone, it's a fucking dinosaur, and it's IN. MY. BED!" JJ cried, making the other girls start to laugh despite the situation. "Are you snapchatting me?"

"Maybe," Simone giggled. "To send to Will"

JJ shook her head, but she couldn't fight off the grin. Moments later, Alyssa returned, Norah at her side. The second she saw the lizard, Norah's eyes widened.

"Are you kidding me? I can deal with frogs, not THAT!" she shrieked. "JJ, girl, burn it down and start again"

This time, they all laughed.

* * *

"You can make it a little louder," Aly was egging Simone on as the younger girl stood across the floor by the stereo, plugging her phone into the aux connection.

"It's at 40!" Simone called back.

"It's the last day, come on! A little louder… it's not that loud!" Aly persisted.

"It's never been at 40 though," Simone said reluctantly, turning towards the volume knob.

"It's the last day-"

Aly was cut off by loud music blasting through the gym as the group sitting on the floor burst into laughter. Around them in the gym, cameras followed their every move; NBC were filming a documentary called _The Ranch_ , documenting the process of making it to the Olympic Games. Filming had started just before Worlds the previous year, but as stressed as she had been at the time, JJ had declined to participate in any interviews. Now, however, she had agreed to take part. She and Aly were to be interviewed following practice that day.

A short while later, their coaches began to file into the gym, followed by Marta and the rest of the national team staff. After that, it was all business. Warmups, stretches and conditioning, followed by event drills, and then closed off with a verification competition, involving all of them getting up one at a time on each event and performing for everyone else in the gym. For JJ, this was the scariest part of being an elite in the US; not even the Olympics had been as scary as Marta's verifications.

"Alright!" Marta said at the end of the session once all the girls were lined up before her. "Good training camp. Being the last one, I am glad that we are finishing this stage on a very good note. Now, we down to the very very last stretch. Mental strength will be very important, and the desire from your heart. Some distractions will arise. Push them aside. Good luck with everything"

"Thank you Marta, coaches and national staff. Goodbye," the girls all said quickly in unison, before rushing forward in a huddle to have one last word with Marta before departing the following morning.

One by one, Marta spoke calmly with each of the girls, giving each of them something to work on before the US Classic, before dismissing them to enjoy their remaining free time at the ranch.

JJ's turn came up shortly after Aly, and it was then that the national team coordinator placed her hands on JJ's shoulders and gave her a comforting smile.

"This season is to hammer out those competitive nerves. I know you can go out there and be champion, so remember that yourself. Believe it in here," Marta said softly, tapping just below JJ's collarbone to indicate her heart. "I know there is a lot to be going on back home for you, and I don't want to tell you to push that aside for your gymnastics. Family is very important, they have helped you get this far. Make sure you make some extra time to spend with them now, ok? You will be glad you did"

Tears burned JJ's eyes as Marta gave her a quick yet reassuring hug before dismissing her with Aly.

To have Marta understand what she was dealing with… somehow, it had just given her all the confidence in the world.


	99. Chapter 99

**A/N: Trying not to rush this but oh my god, I'm so excited to get to Rio, you guys are gonna love it!**

* * *

" _NBC Sports presents the 2016 Secret US Classic. Oftentimes the home for the sport of gymnastics is the XL Center, and a big crowd is here to cheer on their favourites as the road to Rio continues to be paved"_

Just as it had three years earlier for the national championships, gymnastics had returned to Hartford, Connecticut, in the form of the Secret US Classic.

It had been hard for JJ to leave home for the competition, especially as her dad's health had seemed to just spiral downwards in the last few weeks. He was still as bright and as cheerful as he could muster the energy to be, but JJ knew he was in pain, and it was a thought that broke her heart.

But, she was determined to give him a reason to smile and forget about his suffering for even a short amount of time, and so she had steeled herself and gotten on the plane. Will, her grandmother, her brother, and her brother's wife had all made the trip to Hartford to support JJ in the first major competition of her season.

" _Hi everybody, I'm Al Trautwig along with my favourite two Olympic gold medalists, Nastia Liukin and Tim Daggett, Andrea Joyce will be along a little bit later. So there used to be room for a Magnificent Seven, now it's down to five gymnasts per team. Who is allowed right now to think they can represent the United States in Brazil?"_

" _Well in my opinion, the most dominant athlete in the world today, male or female, is Simone Biles, three time World champion, she just doesn't ever lose, because of that, she's gonna go to Rio"_

" _To put it in perspective, she hasn't lost an all-around competition in almost three years, that's how good she is"_

" _Who's next?"_

" _You know, I could say Gabby Douglas here… being the reigning Olympic all-around champion, that gives you some props… but in fact, I think Jennifer Jareau is the only other athlete in the building tonight who is actually allowed to think 'I'm going to the Olympic Games'. She's been unbelievable over the past three years. She didn't take a break after London like most of her teammates, and while that's usually detrimental to an athlete's performance, she has just continued to rise, and she has actually surpassed the level she was at in London, she's awesome"_

Not wanting to overdo it before nationals, JJ and Simone were both only competing two events here at the Classic. For Simone, it was her two 'weakest' events; bars and beam, which also served to reduce the impact on her body heading into the Olympic season. For JJ, she was only competing bars and floor, to try out her new routines and also to reduce her impact load on her body.

" _So the top gymnast today who will be competing all-around is Aly Raisman… the top two World finishers, Simone Biles and Jennifer Jareau, are both only competing two events. Why do you think Aly has elected to compete all-around?"_

" _Well, Al, quite honestly, her qualification round at the World championships was a disaster. She made mistakes on every event and didn't qualify to any individual finals. Then earlier this year, at Jesolo in Italy, she sat her Amanar… I think Aly feels like she's got something to prove, and if she proves it here at the Classic, I'd say she's going to Rio"_

Aly had already gone on the uneven bars and fallen on her first transition, much to JJ's surprise; Aly was by no means an extraordinary bar worker, but the one thing you could almost always count on was for her to at least stay on.

Standing waiting for her green flag, JJ took a deep breath, trying to calm the butterflies in her stomach.

After four years that had felt so long and yet, so fast, she was really here, about to take the first step in her second Olympic bid. She couldn't believe it had finally arrived. And she still wouldn't truly believe until she walked into the Olympic Trials and saw the big _'2016 OLYMPIC TEAM TRIALS'_ plastered along the sides of the arena.

"Next up on uneven bars for Romero's, Jennifer Jareau!"

Her green flag went up, and she saluted immediately, before adjusting her grips and turning to face the bar. Time to show Marta how much she'd improved.

Glide kip… shaposh to the high bar, pulled straight up into a handstand… toe on full pirouette, a little wobbly on the top, but ok nonetheless… stalder… piked Tkatchev, connected straight to a Pak salto… stalder one and a half pirouette… shoot to the high bar, nearly in a dead hang, but muscled up to handstand… half turn… front giant… half turn… stalder… backwards giant...

With a satisfying _ping_ from the high bar, she flicked off into her flighty full twisting double layout, sticking it to the mat without so much as a flicker of movement as the crowd went nuts.

" _WOW, what a landing! There were a few little issues here and there, but by and large, that routine is miles better than the routine she's been using her entire career. Something has finally clicked for her on bars!"_

"Remember to slow down once you get to the top of the swing, hold that handstand as long as you can and finish the turn right on top of the bar," Nick said, giving her a quick squeeze as she hopped down from the podium. "Your shoot was a little dead even on the low bar, remember to really kick it out from the underswing and drive it up even higher to prevent a dead hang"

JJ nodded, undoing her grips as they walked back to the chair bank.

" _Straight into the corrections. I think she could've done that perfectly and Nick would still find a way to improve it. He's a meticulous man, I think that's partly while JJ has stayed so strong for such a long time"_

* * *

The next rotation was a rest for JJ as she wasn't competing beam until they reached Nationals in two weeks time. She had watched on, stretching while Aly competed, filling with pride as her friend came back from the fall on bars with a superb beam routine.

Then they had moved to floor, where JJ was first up.

Before getting into her starting pose, she took a deep breath to settle herself, before stepping out onto the floor.

This would be the first time she had ever competed her new routine, and while it wasn't as upbeat as Simone's planned routine, or even Aly's, she hoped the crowd would love it just the same. She also knew Teagan was watching from home, and she wanted to make her proud of the routine she had created.

Her music began, making her zero her focus in on nothing but the floor routine she was about to do. It rolled and boomed around her, the intensity of it quite clear in her eyes.

And then the beat of music that was her cue reached her ears, prompting her to begin the routine.

Whipping back into the corner, she was barely there a second before she'd taken off into her first tumbling run. She and Nick had decided to hold off on the new skill until Nationals, wanting to ensure a clean doubtless qualification, and so it was that she simply competed her double layout.

" _I'm wondering when she's going to put that upgrade in, because I'm almost 99 percent sure there's going to be one"_

A little bit of choreo allowed her to breathe before taking off into her double double, which she soared through with surprising height.

Her leap series came next, flowing seamlessly into the choreography. By now, she was truly feeling the music, expressing its intensity and passion through every move.

Pushing through the next few moments, she went into her third tumbling run, and this time, she decided to go through with the connections. Hurdling, she did her round-off, into a whipback, into a double Arabian, followed by a high and flighty stag leap.

" _Well, that's new! That was really good!"_

The last section of dance led her into the final tumbling run, her full in, which she landed with her usual ease.

Dancing through the last few beats of music, she struck her final pose with a smile on her face as the arena broke into excited applause.

" _So, a new routine for Jennifer Jareau, and a darn good one at that! It might not be Brazilian like Simone's, but I can see it in Rio!"_

" _Depending on the upgrade she's got in the wings too, it may even creep past Aly's potential, especially as her execution is generally a little better"_

" _She's had nothing but awful stuff the last couple of months, but tonight, tonight was an absolute hit on the road to Rio for Jennifer Jareau!"_


	100. Chapter 100

**A/N: 100 chapters, WOO!**

* * *

Silence hung around her like a heavy fog, permeated only by the deep rhythmic sound of her father's breathing.

In the week since the Classic, he had deteriorated so suddenly that it was scaring JJ. Every day since arriving home, after physically exhausting herself in training, she came home and helped her mother tend to her dad's every need. Jason and Katie had flown straight from Hartford to Pittsburgh, having taken extended leave so that they could spend time with their family. Accompanying them had been Sandy's mother, Theresa, who had wanted to be there for her family and help alleviate some of the strain Michael's illness was starting to put on them.

Michael spent most of his days sleeping. A scan shortly following the Classic had shown the cancer invading his stomach and intestines; clearly, that was the root of the digestive issues, nausea, and vomiting that had been plaguing him even after the chemo had stopped. Even though they knew this was normal disease progression, it pained JJ and Sandy terribly to watch.

"He's doing alright," Sandy said quietly from behind JJ, approaching her daughter and resting her hands on her shoulders. "Not great… but ok. He's determined to see you at Trials"

"What's he going to do if I don't make Trials?" JJ asked quietly, a hint of sarcasm in her voice.

"Probably just haunt you for the rest of your life," Sandy said nonchalantly, getting a giggle out of JJ.

They fell silent again, before Sandy reached into the room and slowly pulled the door closed, allowing Michael to rest.

"I can't believe this is really happening," JJ said quietly as they turned back towards the stairs.

"I know," Sandy replied softly, reaching over and squeezing JJ's hand as they headed back down to the kitchen. As they passed the lounge room, the soft voices of Katie and Jason floated out to them. JJ's heart tugged a little as she heard her brother's voice. Both she and Jason had always been very close to their father, but she knew his condition was taking a much bigger toll on her brother than he was letting on.

"I made coffee," Theresa said quietly as the younger two walked into the kitchen. They both nodded acceptingly as she poured them each a mug of coffee and pushed them across the counter.

"Will was here this morning while you were at training," Theresa started conversationally, but she fell silent after a sharp look from Sandy. JJ frowned.

"Will was here? Why didn't he stay until I got home?" she asked, confused.

"He was in a bit of a hurry… just wanted to ask Jason something, something technical I think," Sandy said quickly, taking a sip of her coffee. JJ shrugged, looking back down at her mug, completely missing the second look her mother threw at her grandmother.

"You doing ok, sweetheart?" Theresa asked gently, watching JJ closely.

"Yeah," JJ replied softly, but even she could hear the fakeness in her voice. "I mean… it sucks, but I'm trying to just get on and do everything because Dad would never let me forget it if I didn't"

"As long as you're happy, JJ, that's the most important thing," Theresa reminded her.

JJ looked up, nodding slightly.

"I am… it's just harder than it used to be to show it"

* * *

 _ **JJ's changed her floor routine… last year she did a double double, a double layout, a double Arabian, and a full-in. Now she's doing the double double second and the layout first… why would she do a harder pass as her second pass?**_

 _Because I'm almost 99% sure she's going to upgrade it for Nationals, probably to a full twisting DLO. Which would be awesome. That's literally the only reason she'd change those two around. Speaking of her floor changes, it's actually pretty incredible what she's managed to do. Most gymnasts hit their peak and then maintain it and kind of max out what they're able to do. JJ, on the other hand, had a peak in London, and has not only maintained it, but climbed above it. In 2012, her gymnastics was good, don't get me wrong, but some of her routine construction on bars and floor was a little funky, and I think that actually inhibited what she was able to do, because clearly she was capable of more. I can't believe the girl from 2012 is now whipping out floor routines that could challenge Aly and Simone, but here we are._

 _ **Is it just me or has Team USA relaxed over the last quad? Is that something to do with Simone?**_

 _Yes. Hahaha. Basically, Marta realized when Simone reached senior level that the girls can still be teenagers and muck around and enjoy themselves, while being serious when they need to be and getting amazing results. Funnily enough, the best visual of this change is JJ. She was so timid and shy in 2012, always so serious, and now she's like a totally different person, always joking around with Simone and Aly, I love it._

* * *

"I have something for you," Will said quietly that evening as he and JJ relaxed on the couch. JJ had been far too exhausted to drive home after training, and had instead decided to crash at Will's for the night… not that he minded in the slightest. After dinner and a shower, she had pulled on Will's comfiest pair of sweat pants and one of his T-shirts, and was now lying with her head in his lap as he gently stroked her hair.

"What is it?" JJ asked curiously, turning her head so she could look up at him.

Reaching behind him to the end table he had positioned behind the couch, he picked up a sealed envelope, bringing it back down and placing it in JJ's open hands.

"Open it," he said as she looked at him in confusion.

She didn't hesitate to do so, opening the top edge of the paper slip, and pulling out a small pile of neatly folded pages all emblazoned in type.

 **Dear JJ,**

 **Even though you like to put on a brave face, we know you're hurting more than words could ever express. We want to see your smile, your beautiful, genuine, wholesome smile, and we want you to know that even when shit gets really tough, we're here for you and we love you.**

 **So myself (Will), and all the girls (Aly, Simone, Laurie, Ragan, Mykayla, Ashton, Madison, Alyssa, Maggie, Amelia, Brenna, Gabby, Christina, Emily, and Rachel) have decided to make a list. It was going to be 100 reasons why we love you, but we kinda lost track along the way and now we're not sure if it's 95 or 153, but either way… it's a lot of reasons why we all love you:**

 _ **We love that you can be a mess in practice and yet you've never failed to walk out and reclaim your beam title.**_

 _ **You have the most amazing smile.**_

 _ **You have a heart the size of Canada.**_

 _ **You're starting to terrify Simone (and we love that).**_

JJ laughed, looking up at Will to see him smiling down at her. Letting one hand go from the paper, she reached up and squeezed his hand lovingly, before returning to the letter.

 _ **We love that you're always laughing and joking even when life is trying to get you down.**_

 _ **Your Instagram photos are all our couple goals.**_

 _ **You're the Mom to Aly's Grandma.**_

 _ **We're not sure how you can have the muscle tone of a super gymnast and still look like a freaking model, but we're working on finding out.**_

 _ **You're an amazingly good sport.**_

 _ **Every little gymnast in the country adores you and you never turn anyone away when they want to meet you.**_

 _ **We love when you randomly start belting out Keith Urban lyrics at camp.**_

 _ **You're afraid of huge 'fucking dinosaur' lizards.**_

 _ **You talk so highly of your family, it's incredible.**_

 _ **The relationship and respect you have with your dad is truly admirable.**_

 _ **You're beautiful inside and out.**_

 _ **You always know how to make everyone else smile.**_

The list went on and on, but the tears blurring JJ's eyes by that point made it impossible to continue. Pushing herself up, she turned, throwing her arms around Will's neck and burying her face in his neck.

She didn't need to tell him how much she loved what they had all done.

It was all in the embrace.


	101. Chapter 101

**A/N: Short one because I've had a touch of writer's block, but exciting news because Undying Champion is now officially my longest fic ever! And there's plenty more to come!**

* * *

It was hard, leaving him at home when he was just getting worse, but Nationals were days away and she knew she had to finish out this path she had started on. The morning had come for her and Nick to fly out to St Louis, Missouri, with the first training at the arena being held the following morning.

"You'll be beautiful… I know… you always are," Michael said softly, fighting to stay awake as he cupped JJ's cheek and smiled up at her.

JJ swallowed thickly, forcing a smile onto her face as tears threatened to spill over.

"I'll make you proud, I promise," she said thickly.

Michael shook his head slightly. "Sweetheart, I am always proud of you, and I always will be. Don't you dare think, even for a second, that that's ever going to change"

Seeing the tears welling higher in JJ's eyes, Michael reached up, pulling her down into a warm hug. JJ swallowed thickly, fighting to keep her emotions in check.

Even with her dad's passionate insistence that she continue, this was the hardest thing she had ever taken on. The doctor had told them that Michael might live through to September, but to JJ and Sandy, they could barely see him making it to August at the rate his current condition was declining.

"Go be incredible, ok? I love you," Michael said softly as she pulled away.

"I love you too," she replied, getting to her feet and wiping away her tears. Walking towards the door, she looked back over her shoulder, giving him one last smile before she left the room.

* * *

"How's everyone doing at home?" Nick asked conversationally as they cruised high above the mainland en route to St Louis.

"They're ok," JJ replied quietly. "Dad's not too great, but he's not complaining yet so he's coping ok. Mom is… I don't know. She seems like she's doing ok, but I think she's putting up a brave face"

"Kinda like you," Nick said, his voice just loud enough for her to hear.

JJ fell silent for a moment, avoiding looking at her coach. As always, he was pretty spot on in guessing how she was feeling.

"You're beating yourself up for leaving," Nick said knowingly.

Lifting her face, JJ sighed. "I just feel like I should be home with him… even though he said he wants me to be at nationals. I feel like I'm doing the wrong thing"

"Hey," Nick said gently, putting his hand over the back of hers and giving it a gentle squeeze. "You wouldn't have gotten on this plane if you didn't want to go to nationals. That being said… even if it makes your dad happy, the only person who can really decide what's right is you"

"I do want to do this," JJ reaffirmed. "It's just… hard"

"I know… and I know you want to do this… but promise me JJ, if you change your mind, the second you have a change of heart, I want you to tell me. Because if you change your mind, it's better for you to be home with your family than pushing through this process. For someone like you, fighting through nationals and Trials is only worth it if you're gung ho about making the team"

Looking up at Nick, JJ gave him a reassuring smile and a nod.

"I will. But for now… I plan to kick some butt at nationals"

Nick laughed, holding up his hand for a high five.

"That's the spirit"


	102. Chapter 102

**A/N: I was determined to get this out tonight, so it's a little higgledy piggledy.**

* * *

" _The women of gymnastics have come from the ranch to Chaifetz Arena in St. Louis, Missouri to find out who this year's national champion is. If it's Simone Biles, it would be four in a row, and that has never happened before. Jennifer Jareau wants the Olympics more than ever after a year of personal turmoil, and she looks poised to reclaim her Olympic title on beam. Gabby Douglas looks to be a returning Olympian as the all-around gold medalist. That hasn't happened since Nadia. Her teammate, Aly Raisman, followed the Olympics into Dancing with the Stars, and she wants the Olympics again. Maggie Nichols returns to competition after a couple of knee surgeries, and she's trying to smile her way into the Olympic picture at this late date as well. And then there's… Laurie Hernandez. She's got that special something in Marta's eyes. And little Ragan Smith has her own big hopes! The road to Rio continues in St Louis!"_

41 days.

The opening ceremony of the 2016 Summer Olympic Games was just 41 days away.

The four years since London had gone so fast, JJ couldn't believe she was standing there, right in the middle of the selection process again. Even though the time had flown, so much had happened in that time that in the same instant, it felt like forever.

" _NBC Sports presents the 2016 P &G Gymnastics Championships. Not far from the majestic Mississippi River is St Louis University, and we're in Chaifetz Arena for two nights of competition, tonight and Sunday, which will determine the 2016 national champion. Hi everybody, Al Trautwig, along with my favourite gold medalists, Tim Daggett and Nastia Liukin, Andrea Joyce is with us too"_

In an effort to keep her focus and stay calm and collected, JJ had barely paid attention to the first rotation after the meet had entered broadcast. She herself had gone through her floor routine, scoring a 15.500 to open her night on a solid effort. Despite the fact that she had been working relentlessly on her upgrades and was feeling more than confident with them, she had decided to play it safe for nationals in order to secure her place at the Trials in two weeks time.

The second rotation took her to vault, where she _would_ be debuting the upgraded second vault she had been working on, the colloquially named 'Mustafina'.

As she was waiting, she allowed herself a moment to watch Simone take the floor. Watching her friend dance and tumble with the joy and fun she carried everywhere she went, JJ felt a tug of emotion in her chest.

41 days until Simone became an Olympian. 41 days until Simone made her dreams come true.

It was the unspoken definite that everyone knew. And thinking of how hard Simone had worked, how much she had achieved over the quad, knowing that she was without a doubt, going to Rio, made JJ feel a little heady for her friend.

But before too much longer, it was JJ's turn to vault.

" _So now we'll go over to the vault with Jennifer Jareau. She's had a good start, with a strong floor routine… I'm still waiting for that upgrade she's apparently been working on. I'd imagine she's just trying to secure a place at the Olympic Trials before she busts out the big skills"_

" _She's had a really rough year… she found out just after the American Cup that her dad's cancer is now terminal, so for her to be here while dealing with that is nothing short of incredible"_

" _She's definitely a lot more subdued than she normally is, but the gymnastics is as good as ever"_

Green flag. Off she went.

Her conditioning and training had helped improve her stamina for her vaulting, and that meant her run was more powerful than ever. Blocking hard from the table, she twisted through the air, landing the Amanar easily on her feet.

" _Beautiful! That was a really good vault from her!"_

"Watch your hand placement on the table, if they're too turned in you'll hurt your shoulder," Nick called as he came up to readjust the board. Nodding, JJ adjusted her wrist guards as she went back to the end of the runway.

She zoned out for a moment as her score went up, focusing her mind on the second vault. She was determined to make it as good as the first.

Saluting, she stepped back onto the runway as her green flag was lowered.

Taking off again, she rocketed towards the table. Her half turn from the board to the table was swift, allowing her to drive her legs up into the air and propel herself forwards, all the while wrapping in a full twist.

She had to bend her knees more than she would have liked to absorb the landing, but she managed it with only a small step, successfully completing the vault.

" _Very good. Almost reminiscent of McKayla. A little more height and she'll have it downpat for Trials!"_

* * *

Having been lost in her own world all day, she was barely aware of anything around her as she swung around the bars.

Catching as she transitioned from low to high, she kipped up, before swinging down into her Tkatchev skill.

She reached out to regrasp, but seconds later, she was on the mat on her knees, earning a gasp from the watching crowd nearest to her.

" _OH! That's too bad!"_

Breathing deeply, she stood up, readjusting her grips quickly as Nick gave a call of encouragement from the sidelines.

Jumping up, she regrasped the high bar, taking a few short swings to regain her momentum, before pulling herself back up to handstand.

Swinging down, she released into her Pak transition, flipping cleanly through the air. But once again, as she regrasped the low bar, her hand slipped, killing her momentum in a second and bringing her down onto her feet on the mat.

Halfway through and she'd now fallen twice. She was frustrated, all she wanted to do was walk away and yell, but she had to finish it.

"Take a moment, breathe, and remember your training. If you make another mistake, evaluate whether it's worth finishing," Nick said encouragingly from the side of the apparatus; he had come up onto the podium the second JJ fell again.

Because she had fallen before swinging beneath the low bar, she had to redo the Pak transition in order to gain the credit for the element. And so it was that she moved back to stand beneath the high bar, before jumping up to grab the bar, and pulling herself back into handstand.

This time, she completed the skill with no problems, but her muscles were tiring fast. The rest of the routine went off without a hitch, but tiny mistakes filled the gaps, and by the time she reached the dismount, she was silently fuming at herself.

Exhausted, but determined, she tapped into her dismount, her body soaring into the air as she twisted and flipped in a completely stretched position.

Seconds later, her feet hit the mat, but she was so underrotated that she staggered forward, throwing her hands down to the mat to catch herself. The lump in her throat immediately welled into tears which she fought back with tremendous vigour as she turned and saluted the judges.

" _Oh boy… that's rough. That's three points off just for the two falls and touching the mat with her hands on the dismount. She usually hovers around the mid to high 8s for execution on bars, but even the skills that she didn't fall on weren't up to her usual standard… I'd say her execution is going to be around a 5, a 6 at the absolute best, bringing the entire routine up to a maximum of 12.5"_

" _Sheesh, that's harsh"_

Without a word as she descended the podium in near tears, Nick put an arm around her shoulders and led her along the edge of the arena floor and towards the curtains that led to the back rooms.

Once they were in the hallway, away from the cameras and the eyes of the audience, Nick came to a stop, turning and facing JJ as she undid her grips and slipped them down her wrists free of her hands.

"Are you alright?" he asked softly.

Knowing if she spoke she was just going to bust out in tears, JJ chose to simply nod.

"I know you already know this, but I want you to push it out of your mind. It's done, and now all you can do is come back stronger"

"I was a disaster," JJ breathed, tears spilling down her cheeks as she finally lifted her gaze to look at her coach.

Nick frowned slightly as he reached out to place a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"JJ… you've literally had worse routines… you nearly broke your nose last year and didn't even finish… why is this one upsetting you?"

"Because I came here to make Dad proud, I came here to make this team… Marta's going to be so disappointed. My ability to do bars has always been a selling point for her and I just went and fucked that right up"

"JJ…," Nick started slowly. "At 2013 Nationals, you wigged yourself out on a transition and made a bunch of mistakes. The following year, you fell off bars in the World all-around final. Last year, you cracked your face on the high bar and collectively scared the shit out of everyone in the building"

"I really hope this is building up to a compliment," JJ said darkly.

Nick grinned. "What I'm getting at is that you, bars, and domestic meets have never been a golden combination. But your selling point is that you have never failed to hit bars in a team competition, and Marta is fully aware of that. What happened out there is no different to what happened last year, and if I know you at all, you're going to absolutely knock it out of the park tomorrow, and if not tomorrow, there's still Trials"

JJ sniffed, wiping a stray tear from her cheek.

"I think this is upsetting you mostly because of everything else you have going on right now… you feel like you're letting people down… like you're letting your dad down"

JJ shrugged.

"JJ, you could fall on every event and finish dead last by ten points and that man would probably buy you a chocolate cake to celebrate"

At that, she had to laugh.

"You're not letting anyone down by having a rough routine. So chin up… you've still got beam, and I don't want you to let this carry over"

Taking a deep breath, JJ nodded, allowing Nick to pull her into a hug, before the two of them headed back out onto the floor.

* * *

She had angry beamed her way through the final rotation, earning a crowd stirring 16.166 that even got applause from Marta.

After her upset on bars, she was incredibly proud of herself for pulling through the final rotation like nothing had happened. An abysmal 11.533 for bars had stirred something deep inside her, and she was more determined than ever to make night two a better affair to remember.


	103. Chapter 103

**A/N: One more chapter to go until Trials! And GUESS WHAT! It's only 199 days until I go to America! Sure seems a lot closer from this side of 200!**

* * *

After her disastrous bars on night one, JJ had come flying back with a vengeance, and with a vengeance it was, for even with her mistakes, she had scraped through to win a silver all-around medal by 0.031 over Aly. Simone had, as expected, taken out her historic fourth straight all-around title, adding titles on vault and floor to her haul as well.

Smiling more than had been custom as late, JJ had worked through her night beautifully. Usually a staple on the medal podium for bars, her low scoring routine on night one had effectively ensured she wasn't going to be in the top three this year. But, she had taken a silver behind Simone on vault, and a bronze behind Simone and Aly on floor.

That aside, the biggest talking point of her night was that she had won her _seventh_ straight national beam title, a feat that seemed to be just as fantastic as Simone's four straight AA wins. She was sure that Tumblr had already taken off running with that little fact.

The national team had been named. Alyssa Baumann, Simone Biles, Christina Desiderio, Gabrielle Douglas, Brenna Dowell, Rachel Gowey, Lauren Hernandez, Amelia Hundley, Jennifer Jareau, Madison Kocian, Ashton Locklear, Maggie Nichols, Alexandra Raisman, Emily Schild, Mykayla Skinner, and Ragan Smith. Every girl on the team had been invited to attend the Olympic Trials, which were taking place in San Jose in two weeks time.

In exactly two weeks, the Olympic team would be named. A moment that four years ago, had felt like a lifetime away.

Up until now, the year had felt like a blur, a never ending stream of both good and bad that was only just now coming into blinding clarity. With every flip, every tumble, every dismount, every stuck landing, she was one miniscule step closer to Rio, one step closer to the continuation of the dream she'd been chasing since she was only six years old. To the outside eye, she knew it looked as though her heart just wasn't in it, but deep down inside her, the fire and passion were raging relentlessly.

It made her dad happy to see her competing, but it also made her own heart soar. Two hours out on the competition floor were two hours in her day where her brain didn't linger on the tragedy awaiting her back home. Every hour in the gym gave her something else to focus on, something to work towards. If she made the team, come Rio, it would all be worth it.

But most of all, considering her father's rapidly deteriorating condition… it would give him something to smile about, something to wholeheartedly enjoy in the remaining weeks of his life.

And that was all she could ever ask for.

* * *

Arriving home from St Louis hadn't been as smooth going as she had expected.

Her dad's condition had taken a severe downturn, meaning he now required round the clock care. When he wasn't sleeping, he was either vomiting or in pain. Sandy and Theresa had been doing an amazing job of tending to his every need, but the emotional toll was clearer than ever on their faces.

"Ok… thank you so much… you too… goodbye," Jason was saying into his phone as he walked into the front lounge room where JJ was stretching out after her morning training session. Hanging up the call, he looked towards his sister with a wan smile. "How was training?"

"Same as usual. Except Nick seems stressed… I'm starting to have flashbacks to 2012," JJ said softly, pulling herself up into a sitting position. "Who was that on the phone?"

Jason sighed heavily, glancing at the phone and back up at JJ.

"The, uh… the funeral company," he muttered, somewhat reluctantly.

The effect of his words was almost immediate as JJ's face crumpled. Burying her face in her folded arms, she fought the overwhelming wall of emotion back as Jason sat down beside her and put an arm around her shoulders.

"It's just something we have to do," he said quietly.

"I know," JJ sobbed. "Doesn't make it… any easier"

"I know," Jason breathed, resting his head against the top of JJ's. "I know"


	104. Chapter 104

**A/N: OK GUYS IT'S HEATING UP!**

* * *

"Whatcha watching?" Will asked conversationally as he came into the room and dropped down beside JJ on her bed. It was their last day together before Trials; JJ and Nick were flying out early the next morning, Monday, to San Jose. Will, Theresa, Jason, and Katie would follow on Thursday afternoon, and Will's parents were flying in on Friday morning, much to JJ's surprise.

"The 2004 Olympics… Carly's one tumbling pass away from the gold medal," JJ said softly, leaning into his embrace as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

Falling silent as he watched the slight young girl in the patriotic red leotard, Will found himself oddly captivated by her performance. She was dancing away to the upbeat music, precision in every movement as she went.

"She kinda reminds me of you," Will said with a smile, nuzzling JJ's ear. She giggled softly, her face lighting up in a genuine smile, even though her eyes never left the TV.

With the defiant stuck landing that was the hallmark of earlier years of gymnastics, Carly finished her routine and struck her final pose, beaming from ear to ear as she did. They stayed silent, watching as she ran to her coach, Yevgeny Marchenko, getting a tight squeeze that could only come from a coach whose life's work had paid off.

Barely minutes later, the crowd was screaming as the commentators yelled down the microphone, for Carly had won the all-around title, the first American gymnast to do so at a fully attended Olympic Games. She was in tears, being embraced by Yevgeny as cameras swarmed around them.

"Apart from Shannon Miller, Carly was the first American gymnast I ever idolized. I watched live as she won her title… that was the moment I decided I was going to go to the Olympics too," JJ explained as the joy and victory unfolded before them.

Sighing, she finally tore her eyes away from the screen, tipping her head up towards Will.

"I've been in two minds about the Olympics all season… I just don't know if I'm doing the right thing, and… I thought if I watched the moment I first decided I was going to be an Olympian… it might help me figure it out"

"JJ… you're telling me you haven't been one hundred percent into this all season, and yet you're still the second best gymnast in America and qualified to the Olympic Trials?" Will asked in disbelief.

JJ let out a chuckle, dropping her gaze down to her lap. "Yeah… sounds kinda crazy when you say it like that"

"It is," Will chuckled, pulling her a little closer. "So… has Carly helped you make up your mind?"

Letting out a long breath, JJ nodded, sitting up straighter and turning to face Will.

"I'm going for it. I didn't realize… under everything else that's happened since Worlds… just how badly I want to go back. I've wanted to go back since I landed my last pass in London. And nothing would make my dad happier to see me going for it again… so I'm going to give it everything I've got, and I'm going to make that damn team"

Falling silent, she bit back a grin at the odd expression on Will's face.

"What?"

"Nothing," he said softly. "You're just really hot when you get all stubborn and determined"

At that JJ had to laugh, prompting Will to grab her around the middle and throw her down on her back on the bed, pressing his lips to hers in a deep kiss.

"One last time before I leave?" JJ breathed when they broke apart, their faces barely an inch apart.

"You know I'll never say no to you," Will said huskily, getting another giggle out of JJ before he pulled her back into the kiss.

They wasted their last few hours together making gentle, beautiful love, never really wanting to let each other go.

When they bid each other goodbye at the front door late in the evening, Will pressed a lingering kiss to her forehead, noticing when she relaxed completely beneath him.

He knew she could do it.

As he walked back to his car, JJ watching his retreating back, his heart was pounding emphatically in his chest.

This was it. In a week's time, they would know the team. And he was so certain she was going to be on it. It was almost making him giddy, to think that the next time he saw his beautiful girl, she was likely going to be going back to the Olympic Games.

It was such a contrast to 2012; time had flown so quickly since then. Back then, they had just been friends (friends harbouring feelings from each other nonetheless), and watching her through the Trials process and at the Games had been a completely different experience to what he was feeling now.

All he knew was if he was this jittery… he certainly did not envy JJ right now.


	105. Chapter 105

**A/N: WHO IS PUMPED!**

* * *

" _I love you so much Dad… thank you for everything you've done for me to get me to this point," she said softly, her emotions staying surprisingly in check as she held her father's hand tightly between her own._

 _Michael could barely stay awake for more than a few minutes in his current condition. Always in pain, his constant flow of medication kept him as comfortable as possible, but also served to make him less lucid._

 _Nevertheless, he didn't have to open his eyes for JJ to know he had heard her; squeezing her hand, he filled her heart with warmth as she managed a now slightly watery smile._

" _I'm gonna go make that team for you"_

* * *

" _Good evening ladies and gentleman and welcome to the first night of the 2016 Olympic Team Trials for the women of USA Gymnastics! There will be two nights of competition, tonight and Sunday, and when all is said and done on Sunday, we will have an Olympic team! I'm Al Trautwig, here with Olympic gold medalists Nastia Liukin and Tim Daggett… we are in for a BIG night tonight!"_

 **2016 OLYMPIC TEAM TRIALS**

It was plastered everywhere the eye could see. The arena had been decked out in the same equipment that was being used for the Games, meaning the floor was a bright white rather than the blue they were used to in domestic competitions.

Nerves were running high all throughout the room. JJ knew Will, Jason, Katie, and Theresa were all up in the stands somewhere supporting her, but she didn't want to know where; it would only make her more nervous.

The competition was already underway. She was in the same rotation as Aly, Madison, and Mykayla, all starting on vault, with Simone and Laurie in the rotation behind them, starting on floor. Aly had already vaulted, doing very well to put up a high 15 to open her bid for the Olympic team.

More determined than ever to remain focused on her routines, JJ pushed out the noise of the crowd as she awaited her turn. They were exceptionally rowdy and excited, and she could understand why; if she was a fan watching the final selection of an Olympic team, she'd be excited too.

It felt like forever, but finally, it was her turn to vault. She was only going to be doing her Amanar here; even though there was a vault competition being awarded, none of the three girls with two vaults had elected to do their second vault, effectively meaning the vault standings would all be awarded based on single vault scores. Their reasoning was that they had demonstrated their vault capabilities at Nationals, and Marta knew they could do two vaults; here, it was about demonstrating one more time that they could hit in an all-around setting to make that final push for the team.

" _So we have JJ coming up on vault now. I don't think she's got too much to worry about. She's been so good all quad, with that meteoric rise from 2012 onwards, that she's basically locked onto the team barring a major injury. She's gotten so good that I think if she had a clone here competing exactly as she did in 2012, they would place much lower in the all-around standings… they certainly wouldn't be a guarantee for the team. Maybe a strong consideration"_

" _She wasn't guaranteed to the team in 2012, however. She was definitely a strong contender, but I don't think it was until Trials, when she came out and proved she could be more consistent than Jordyn Wieber that Marta decided to actually put her on the team. She knows that too, and I think this quad has been about proving her worth to this team, proving she is better than people think she is"_

With floor music playing in the background, she saluted the judges and took a deep breath as she centered herself on the runway.

Seconds later, she was running full speed towards the table. Hurdling beautifully into her roundoff, she rebounded from the springboard and blocked hard off the table and into the air.

Her form was impeccable, but her forward momentum was a little too overpowered, causing her to stagger forward slightly as she landed. Quickly reigning it in, she steadied herself, managing a smile as she saluted the judges and walked from the podium.

"Not your best, but certainly not your worst," Nick said warmly as she came down the stairs. "All you did was forget to absorb the landing, you came in with your chest over your feet when ideally you should be coming in with your chest slightly behind your feet. We can probably play that off on nerves, just make sure you work on it for Sunday"

Nodding, JJ smiled as Aly came up to give her a hug. The two remained silent as they hugged; maybe they were afraid of revealing how nervous they really were.

But just moments later, they were forced to refocus on themselves, for it was time to move onto the next event.

Bars.

* * *

" _Now… JJ had a HUGE disaster on bars on the first night of the national championships. She fell three times and just kinda fell apart. Even though she was much better on night two, she will definitely be looking to redeem herself further here tonight"_

" _It makes me sad that she can so easily fall apart on this event too, because she is SO beautiful to watch when she's on!"_

Her green flag had come and she was on.

Casting up into her first handstand, she steeled herself against all distractions; she was _not_ going to mess up bars again.

The first transition came without headache, as did her first release move, caught spectacularly to much applause from the crowd.

"Come on JJ," Will muttered beneath his hands, barely able to watch from his seat in the stands. He was forcing himself to watch JJ's routines all the way through, as much as he wanted to close his eyes until they were over.

He cheered when she successfully made it through the Pak without making a mistake, before reverting to nervously watching as she shot back to the high bar for her dismount.

A high and flighty full twisting double layout was the perfect full stop at the end of a brilliant routine. JJ couldn't contain her joy, pumping the air excitedly after saluting the judges; she'd survived her 'worst' event, and survived it she certainly had.

* * *

" _JJ has done pretty well so far. Her vault was… well, it was decent enough for her purposes, and Marta KNOWS she's better than what she showed… her bars was fantastic, and now she's just about ready to go on the event which she is the REIGNING World and Olympic Champion… she's thinking, 39 days until she tries to defend that Olympic title. I don't think she'll need to try, to be honest, I think if she's on the team, she's got that gold medal in the bag"_

" _Is it really only 39 days until the beam final?"_

" _Absolutely"_

Will looked elsewhere in the arena as JJ took off to mount the beam with her front tuck; he could watch everything else, but the mount made him far too nervous.

Luckily, she landed it no problems, as was her custom.

Straightaway, she swung back into her standing Arabian, landing it with a defiant puff of chalk exploding up from the beam.

Swinging her arms back, she performed her Onodi, linking it immediately to two consecutive front aerials, connected to a simple split leap at the end.

Her next hurdle was the layout full series. Breathing to focus herself, she swung back into it, driving through her shoulders and easily landing the difficult skill at the end of the series.

That was the hardest part over.

Her body went into autopilot as she worked through the final bits of the routine, mentally checking off requirements as she went.

Next minute, she was tumbling into her dismount.

" _Look at the height off the end of the beam!"_

With a confident _thwack_ , her feet hit the mat and she straightened up, a proud smile on her face as she saluted the judges. Off to the side, Nick was clapping, nodding happily as she approached him.

So far, so good.

* * *

The nervous energy had mostly dissipated by the time they reached the final rotation, but that didn't stop Simone from flubbing her wolf turn, the very first skill of her beam routine, in a very uncharacteristic move.

But JJ had to ignore that, because she was about to go on floor.

" _I'm curious to see if she's going to finally put in that upgrade we're all certain she's got. She didn't do it at nationals, which is probably understandable, but I think Marta has a rule that any upgrades going to the Olympics HAVE to be performed domestically first, so we'll see what happens!"_

Settling into her opening pose, JJ took a deep breath.

The music began, the powerful intro filling her ears. She waited for her cue, and when it came, she whipped into action, dancing back into the corner exactly as Teagan had taught her.

Leaping off her foot, she ran powerfully across the floor, hurdling into her roundoff, backflip, and rebounding high into the air.

The second her feet left the ground, she began to twist, also rotating in a layout as she did so.

When she successfully landed her first competitive double double layout, she could've sworn half the crowd had screamed in surprise.

" _WOW! OH WOW!"_

Fighting back the smirk that had wanted to appear on her face, she continued through with the routine.

"Oh my goodness that was terrifying," Theresa moaned, making Jason and Will laugh as JJ turned into her double double. "What was that?"

"The hardest skill in women's floor, as I've been told," Will chuckled, right as JJ landed her double double with a defiantly loud thud on the floor.

The rest of the routine was solid, if not for the connection Will knew she had missed in her third tumbling line; instead of the whipback he knew she had been intending, she had played it a little safe with a simple backflip, probably because she was tired.

When she landed her final pass and danced through the final bars of music into her ending pose, she received a rapturous round of applause.

Standing up, she saluted, waving briefly to the crowd before jogging back over to Nick, tears cresting her eyes. Beaming from ear to ear, Nick pulled her into a tight hug, lifting her off her feet as he squeezed her.

"Kiddo, that was awesome. You should be really proud of yourself"

"Thanks Nick," she said softly, trying to fight back the emotion that had risen at the completion of her first day of Trials.

One more night. One more night, and she would hopefully make hers and her father's Olympic dreams come true one last time.

" _One more night like that, and that girl is, one hundred percent, going to Rio"_


	106. Chapter 106

**A/N: Stay tuned!**

* * *

" _When are you coming home?"_

The urgency in her mother's voice made her feel like ice had settled in her stomach. The entire time she had been in San Jose, she had felt slightly nauseated, sick with worry that something was going to happen to her dad and she wasn't going to be with him when it did.

"We're ticketed to fly out Monday afternoon," JJ said softly.

A hesitant silence fell between them. Over on JJ's left, Aly was lounging on the floor at the end of her bed, gently stretching and working out the knots in her sore muscles from that morning's practice. They had two more practices before the final night of competition the following evening, and everyone was starting to feel the pressure.

" _Do you think there's any possibility of changing it so you fly out sooner?"_

Ignoring her mother's question, JJ swallowed hard against the lump in her throat, tears threatening to spill over. Anxiety was welling relentlessly in her stomach and the nausea had suddenly reared its ugly head.

"Is Dad ok?" she asked in a choked whisper.

When she heard the unmistakable sound of her mother fighting back a sob, she couldn't help but start to cry as well, hardly noticing when Aly, without making a fuss, got up from the floor and moved to sit beside her. The gentle arm her best friend put around her shoulders offered some comfort, but nothing could take away the pain she was feeling.

" _He's had moments of lucidity… but the hospice nurse says he only… only has a few days… a week, if we're lucky. He's too sick, JJ, his body's getting tired. He's holding out as long as he can because he wants to see you compete, but he's just exhausted"_

Her mom drew in a shaking breath, her voice now thick with tears.

" _I'm sorry baby girl… I know that's not what you want or need to hear right now, but you of all people deserve to know the truth. I just… I think you should get home as soon as you can, so we can all be together"_

Her hands shook as she clutched the phone, tears dripping down her cheeks and onto her T-shirt.

"I will, I'll be there as soon as I can… just please tell him that I love him"

" _I will_ ," Sandy breathed.

With hardly anything and yet everything left to say, they ended the call, leaving JJ stunned and tearful on the edge of her bed. The silence in the air was palpable, nothing filling the room but for JJ's devastated sobs.

"I'm so sorry this is happening to you Jayje," Aly whispered sincerely, squeezing her friend comfortingly around her shoulders, tears of her own building in her eyes. Even with their distance, JJ's family was like hers as well. It hurt her terribly to see the tragedy unfolding in the Jareau family; she had always admired and respected Michael for the way he conducted himself and the pride and values he had instilled in his family.

JJ started to speak, but was cut short by a horrible churning sensation in her stomach. Dropping her phone to the floor, she clapped a hand over her mouth.

"I'm going to be sick," she choked out, leaping off the bed and running for the bathroom. She only just made it to the toilet in time, falling to her knees on the pristine tile as she violently upended the contents of her stomach into the bowl.

Moments later, Aly's hands were gently gathering her hair away from her face, holding it back as she coughed and gagged.

When she stopped vomiting, she fell weakly to the side, resting heavily against the wall with her head in her hands as Aly stood up and moved over to the sink. She took deep breaths, listening as Aly turned the faucet on for a few moments before turning it off again. A few seconds later, she was kneeling down in front of her, holding out half a glass of water.

Shakily, JJ took the glass, raising it to her lips and sipping from it as Aly reached over and flushed the toilet.

"JJ… your family is the strongest family I know… you are one of the strongest _people_ I know," she said softly, looking JJ directly in the eye. "If I know you at all… you're going to go out there tomorrow night and absolutely kill it, because it's what your dad would want you to do, and it's what _you_ want to do"

"I just… I felt like I was coping," JJ said tearfully. "But I'm not. My dad could be gone in less than a week, and I'm not ready for that, Aly, I can't do this without him!"

"Yes you can," Aly said, her voice cracking as she pulled JJ into a hug. "I don't know what it's like to lose a parent, JJ, but I know that losing someone you love sucks like hell and you just want to curl up and hide from the world. But you're not going to do that, I know you're not, because going out there and killing it and making this team for your dad means more to you than you would ever let anyone know"

JJ let out a sob, burying her face in Aly's shoulder. Aly squeezed her eyes shut, hoping to keep her emotions in check, if only so she could be JJ's support person.

"You can do this, Jayje, I know you can," she breathed, letting the tears slip out as she finished speaking, holding JJ's shaking body tightly. "Do it for your dad"

* * *

She'd been almost numb throughout the first three rotations, moving robotically through her routines. A few slightly nervy mistakes had docked her some extra tenths on vault and bars, but she was still holding strong. There were only two gymnasts left to compete, and then the worst part of the night would begin; the twelve minutes waiting in the room in the depths of the arena.

First, she would go on floor. And then Laurie would follow on beam to close off the competition.

She couldn't believe her four year journey from London was reaching its close. It felt like just yesterday she had arrived home from the UK, gung ho that she was going back, itching to be back in the gym.

That same passion was still burning inside her, even beneath the damper that was her heartache. She was ready to stoke the fire. She was ready to put the finishing touches on that plane ticket that would hopefully read ' **RIO DE JANEIRO** '.

" _On floor for Romero's… Jennifer Jareau!"_

"Yeah JJ, let's go!" Will called out encouragingly from the stands.

Biting back a smirk at the crystal clear yell, JJ saluted the judges and walked a little way out onto the floor into position.

"Come on JJ, you got it!"

"Drive it home girl, let's go!"

The cheers of her teammates were doing all the good in the world, lifting her out of the shaky pit of nerves she felt like she'd been dropped into, and putting her up on a pedestal of confidence.

Her music began, making her take a deep breath as she awaited her cue.

'Dad is still watching at home,' she reminded herself. 'Make him proud. Make that team'

The next ninety seconds were a complete blur. She knew, given time, she'd recall it fondly as one of the best moments of her life, but as she sank into her final pose on the floor, tears glistening on her cheeks, all she knew was the screaming applause of the rapturous American crowd.

She'd finished off her bid for the Olympic team.

Pushing herself up, she saluted the judges once more, not even trying to fight back the emotion that had pushed through as she walked off the podium, down the stairs, and straight into Nick's arms. Right behind him was the entire US national team, bar Laurie, all clamoring to get to her.

"You killed it kid, I'm so proud of you," Nick murmured, holding her tightly as she let the tears flow. He pulled back, giving her half a smile as she wiped her cheeks with the back of her hand.

"You ok?" he asked gently.

"Yeah," she said shakily, managing a smile back. "Just… overwhelmed. I did it"

"You certainly did, and after everything that life has thrown at you this year, I couldn't be more proud of you right now if I tried," Nick said, beaming down at her. "You better go hug your teammates before they skin me alive to get to you"

Laughing through what was left of her tears, JJ ducked around him, only to have Simone throw her arms around her immediately.

"I'm so proud of you!" she shrieked, grinning from ear to ear in typical Simone fashion, before pulling away to allow the others in.

There was enough time for quick hugs and congratulations before Laurie was up on the beam. They watched, eagerly calling out encouragement as she worked her way through her fabulous beam routine with the precision, focus, and carriage of a veteran elite.

In stunning pink and white, a leotard which JJ now remembered as the leotard in which Simone won her first world title, Laurie tumbled seamlessly across the beam for her dismount, finishing off the meet with a strong double pike and a smile that had become her trademark.

As the excited crowd screamed and cheered, the girls all hugged tightly, congratulating Laurie on a beautiful routine. Not to anyone's surprise, Aly was already crying.

"Stop crying, you're gonna ruin your makeup," Simone ordered as she hugged Aly tightly.

"Yeah, Aly, stop, you're gonna make me cry, and I've already cried enough for one day," JJ teased as Aly pulled away from Simone and turned to her.

"Shut up," Aly said tearfully, making the two girls laugh.

Pulling together as a team, through smiles, laughter, and tears, they all reached into the middle of their huddle, putting their hands together as one.

"USA!" they cried, throwing their hands into the air and getting an even louder round of applause from the watching crowd, before slowly starting to dissipate to collect their gear to be taken to the room underneath the arena.

For the selection committee was being led from the arena floor to the conference room deep in the building.

Which meant, all they had to do now was wait.

* * *

 _ **olympichampion: uuhhh, I don't know which of you are watching trials right now… but JJ just finished second in the all-around by less than a tenth behind Simone *shocked emoji* think I'm going to have to watch that space**_

 _ **simone-anar: I don't know what sorcery is going on in the US women's gymnastics team right now that means Simone isn't lightyears ahead, but I kinda like it**_

 _ **krhuger: I still think Simone is gonna be Olympic champ, but I think that AA final isn't gonna be as clean cut as we thought it was, I'm down for a battle**_


	107. Chapter 107

**A/N: I'd have some tissues ready.**

* * *

It had to be the longest twelve minutes of her life.

The nervous laughter that murmured through the room every now and then from someone or another did absolutely nothing to dissipate the tension that was hanging in the air like a thick fog.

In their red, white and blue Team USA warm-ups, JJ, Aly, Maddie, Laurie, Simone, and Maggie were all sitting in one row along the far side of the room. Over to their left, some of the coaches and a few of the other girls were sitting in near silence; Ashton was anxiously scrolling through her phone.

On their other side, Nick and Mihai were sitting quite calmly beside Aimee and Maggie. The two men were chatting quietly, and it was almost bizarre to JJ how calm they were. But then again, they had experienced this four years ago, and it wasn't nearly as nerve wracking to be the coach as it was to be the athlete trying to make their dreams come true.

As she was swallowing thickly to try and quell the nausea in her throat, Aly reached over and took her hand, giving it a comforting squeeze.

"Don't forget to breathe," she said with a little chuckle. JJ looked up, giving her a small smile. Part of her was glad to see that Aly looked as nervous as she did; Aly was probably guaranteed a spot on the team, and yet, everyone in the room knew nothing was a given until all the cards were on the table.

Looking up at the clock on the wall, JJ let out a heavy breath.

7:53.

* * *

"God, was it this painful in 2012?" Will groaned, shifting in his seat once again. The lights had come up on the entire arena, and everyone was chatting anxiously as they awaited the moment in which the Olympic team was announced.

"Yes. I wanted to barf. Mom just about cut off Dad's circulation to his fingers, she was holding onto him that tightly," Jason replied. Glancing down at his phone, which had started buzzing in his hand, he chuckled. "Speak of the devil"

Answering the call, he put it on speaker, the volume just loud enough for the Jareau clan to hear as they all leaned into a huddle.

"Hey Mom, you're on speaker with all of us"

" _Hey, how's everyone hanging in there?"_

"Nervous as all hell. Only about five minutes to go according to the timer on the jumbotron," Jason replied. "How's Dad?"

" _He's awake and he's watching, but he's exhausted. I think he wants them to hurry up so he can get some rest"_

Jason and Theresa both laughed.

"Sounds like Dad," Jason chuckled. "You saw JJ's floor routine, right?"

" _Oh my god, yes, it was the best I've ever seen her do it. I would've cried about it too"_

"Did they show the final scores on the TV?"

" _No… I mean, it's Trials, they don't really matter do they?"_

"Well no, but… JJ finished less than a tenth behind Simone"

" _No way!"_

"Yep. To think if she'd nailed that vault landing on Friday night, she'd have the guaranteed spot"

" _That's crazy"_

"Mom, I'm gonna go, they're starting to gear up for something and it's getting loud in here, but I'll talk to you later"

As Jason ended the call, Will sat back in his seat, jiggling his leg anxiously. He had watched the 2012 Trials live… but he didn't remember them being this nerve-wracking.

* * *

When the door to the holding room opened after nearly twenty minutes of anxious murmuring and near silence, everyone in the room fell completely and totally silent.

Terin Humphrey and Steve Rybacki walked in first, stepping off to the side as Marta came in and smiled at the girls, a rough piece of paper clutched in her hands.

"Wonderful competition girls, you have all competed beautifully and should be very proud," she said warmly.

JJ closed her eyes, unable to watch Marta's body language. Seconds to go. And sure enough, ever straight to the point, Marta dove straight in.

"The girls on the team are Simone Biles, Laurie Hernandez, Jennifer Jareau, Madison Kocian, and Aly Raisman. The alternates are Gabby Douglas, Ragan Smith, and Mykayla Skinner"

The shift in the room was incredible. JJ couldn't help it, breaking down into tears of relief, while Ashton Locklear burst into tears of utter devastation. Excited half squeals escaped from both Laurie and Simone, while Madison looked utterly stunned.

"Congratulations girls," Marta said with a smile. "Very well deserved"

Moments later, the girls who hadn't made the cut were being ushered out of the room with their coaches, while the girls who had were finally letting out the breaths they had been holding since the end of the competition.

"I knew you were going to be on the team," Nick chuckled as he approached JJ and pulled her into a hug. "I just didn't want to freak you out"

"I kinda knew too… I just didn't want to get my hopes up in case I completely fell apart," JJ said, her bright eyes shining in the low light of the room.

"Girls, we need to get you into your Olympic warm-ups for the official announcement, so if you could please change quickly. And, I know this is a wonderful moment, and very emotional, but could we please try to keep the tears to a minimum at least while you're being presented to the crowd and photographed. You all looked like Christmas was cancelled in 2012"

Tension broken, the girls all laughed at Marta's comment. JJ looked pointedly at Aly, who had been the perpetrator of the ugly crying at the team announcement four years ago.

Ten minutes, eight sets of blue warm-ups, and eight beautiful patriotic flower bunches, the girls were being led out to the floor of the arena in complete and total darkness, the only light being the one on the floor, where Steve Penny was standing. They were stopped at the edge of the athlete entrance, an attempt to try and keep them concealed from the crowd just a little bit longer.

"Ladies and gentleman, please welcome the president and CEO of USA Gymnastics, Steve Penny!"

"I'm startin' to feel sick," Will said quietly to Jason as Steve walked to the edge of the floor.

"Only gets worse the more names they call out," Jason advised.

As the crowd cheered excitedly, Steve raised his microphone to his mouth.

"Good evening! What an amazing night of gymnastics we've had here in San Jose!"

Through the darkness, the girls were all led to stand at the edge of the floor, by the stairs, awaiting their cue to go up.

"It's now my great pleasure to introduce to you the five ladies who will represent the United States of America in Rio de Janiero!"

Looking up, Steve smiled.

"Three time World Champion, Simone Biles!"

The lights shifted, putting a huge spotlight on the floor as Simone ascended the stairs and ran out with a wave to the screaming crowd, tears of joy and relief glistening on her cheeks.

"Making her first Olympic team… Laurie Hernandez!"

With all the energy of an excited first year senior, Laurie ran out to join Simone, the two embracing tightly as they stood beneath the heavy lights of the arena. Laurie's smile was lighting up the arena all on its own.

"Returning to the Olympic Games, 2012 Olympic gold medallist, Jennifer Jareau!"

Collectively, JJ's group of supporters all leapt out of their seats, cheering ecstatically as she ran out to join her Olympic teammates. Simone was the first to reach her, her tears starting to break through her stronghold as the two wrapped each other into a tight hug.

Back home in Pennsylvania, Sandy burst into tears the moment JJ's name left Steve's lips.

"She did it Michael, she's going to Rio," she sobbed, squeezing her husband's hand and leaning over to press a loving kiss to his cheek. "Our baby girl did it again"

So tired he could barely keep his eyes open, Michael managed the strongest smile he'd mustered in weeks, topping it off with a squeeze of Sandy's hand. It was enough for Sandy to know that he had understood. He was happy, and he was proud as he could be.

"The reigning World champion on bars… Madison Kocian!"

By the time Maddie joined them on the floor, Laurie was struggling to keep it together, her joy and emotion at making the team just seconds away from exploding through. Sensing this, JJ kept a tight arm around her younger teammate's shoulders to keep her grounded long enough to get through the photos.

"And the second member of the Fierce Five, 2012 Olympic gold medallist, Aly Raisman!"

The crowd was now nothing but a deafening roar as Aly jogged out to join the four of them waiting on the floor. After hugging the younger three tightly, she reached JJ, who let go of Laurie just long enough for Aly to pull her into a purely bone crushing hug.

Up in the stands, Will was struggling himself to keep it together. He was so unbelievably proud of JJ, and had underestimated by far just how emotional the team announcement would be. His beautiful girl was an Olympian again.

"They will be joined by the three replacement athletes. Please welcome Mykaya Skinner, Ragan Smith, and Gabby Douglas!"

The three alternates joined them, all looking crestfallen, but somewhat happy to have made it as far as they did. There were more hugs, and the beginnings of tears. As Aly moved to hug Gabby, JJ turned and pulled Laurie into another tight hug. Laurie clutched at her, and JJ knew immediately she had lost her grip and dissolved into tears.

"These are your Olympic team members for 2016!"

Confetti and streamers fell from the ceiling, sending them into a complete flurry of red, white, and blue.

"We're going to Rio, Laurie," JJ said through a burning smile. She wanted to cry as well, but that was nothing new. She'd been on the cusp all day.

"I can't believe it," Laurie sobbed as JJ pulled away and placed her free hand on her teammate's shoulder. "I did it"

JJ beamed, giving Laurie one more quick squeeze before they joined the mingling group.

After a few team photos, and a rousing chant of 'U-S-A!' the eight girls were led from the floor to mingle on the arena floor, where all the national team staff, the remaining girls who hadn't made the team, a number of media reporters and even the odd celebrity or two, were all waiting around as the music played loudly and the crowd continued to cheer.

Aly quickly found JJ in the craziness, pulling her over to where Andrea Joyce was waiting to speak with them. It took a few moments before they were ready in front of the NBC camera, but once they were, it went live almost instantly.

"After the year of personal adversity she's had, many people were ready to count her out of the Olympic picture, but if there's anything Jennifer Jareau proved tonight, it's that she's not done until _she_ says she is, JJ, just how emotional is this moment for you tonight?"

"It's unbelievable," JJ said, reaching up to wipe away a few stray tears from beneath her eye. "This year has been the hardest year of my life… most people probably know that my dad is really sick, he's dying from cancer…"

Losing her composure, she was unable to speak further as she dissolved into tears, prompting Aly to wrap her arms around her and hold her tight.

"JJ's goal tonight was to go out there and make her dad really proud of her, and I know she's done that, she would've done that if she finished dead last and didn't make the team, but to have made the team in his honour, it's a really special moment, we're all really proud of her," Aly continued without missing a beat.

"Aly, you always say that the less you think, the better you compete, but clearly when you came out of that room, a lot going on in your head, can you describe what this is like?"

"Ah, it doesn't sink in at all, I'm just so excited, and obviously words can't describe how much it means to me to make a second Olympic team, when we were trying these warm-ups on I was like 'JJ, I can't believe we actually did it!'. I mean, we both came back to the sport after London, and this was our goal, and hopefully we can bring Team USA to another gold medal together, we're just so excited"

"Congratulations girls. JJ, I know myself and many others will be keeping you and your family in our thoughts, and in the meantime, we'll see you both in Rio"

"Thank you," Aly gushed, watching as Andrea walked off to find Simone, before giving JJ a tight and comforting hug.

"Thank you for that," JJ choked out; she hated to think what it would have looked like if she'd been interviewed alone and broken down like that.

"I know you made him proud," she whispered as JJ sobbed on her shoulder. "Why don't we go find Nick so you can get to the airport? I think there's a more important place you need to be right now"

Managing a nod, JJ straightened up, allowing Aly to lead her around the floor in search of her coach.

The pit of dread in her stomach had settled in even further.

It was time to go home…

… and start saying goodbye.


	108. Chapter 108

**A/N: Um, all I'll say is you are definitely going to need your tissues. Also, if you are reading and loving this story, please drop a review, it means the world to me!**

* * *

She was home by mid afternoon; when Nick had changed their flights, he had managed to get one leaving San Jose at half past ten that evening, but a long layover halfway across the country meant they didn't reach Pittsburgh until after lunch on Monday afternoon. It was still better than getting home early Tuesday morning as was the original plan.

When she crossed the threshold that afternoon, an overwhelming sense of dread filled her to the core. The house was quiet and still, save for the muffled sound of her mother's voice floating down the stairs.

Dropping her bags by the door, she took a deep breath, starting up the stairs towards her parent's room.

As she reached the landing, the kind hospice nurse, Olivia, came out of the room. Olivia had been Michael's case manager nurse since the day he had entered hospice care, and both JJ and Sandy had grown very fond of her. She was kind and reassuring in everything she did, and had provided a great deal of much needed support for the family.

"Hi JJ," she said, a tired smile crossing her face. "Congratulations on making the team. Your dad is really proud of you"

JJ found herself unable to speak at that moment, but Olivia reached out, gently squeezing her hand to let her know she completely understood.

Olivia headed downstairs, leaving JJ alone on the landing, staring blankly at the door to her parents' bedroom. Behind that door was the reality she now had to face, a reality that had been lurking in the back of her mind since April, but she had refused to fully accept.

Her dad wasn't going to see her compete in Rio.

Steeling her nerve, she stepped forward and pushed open the door.

"Oh JJ!" her mom gasped, leaping up from the edge of the bed and racing over to her daughter, throwing her arms around her in a tight embrace.

'Don't cry, don't cry,' JJ begged herself as tears burned in her eyes.

"We are so proud of you, I can't believe you're going back to the Olympics," Sandy said tearfully, pulling back and cupping JJ's face in her hands. "You were beautiful last night, really, I couldn't be more proud of you"

"Thanks Mom," JJ said thickly, smiling even through the tears welling in her eyes. "How's Dad?"

Sandy bit her lip, her eyes growing awfully bright in the low light of the room. "We don't have long left… his body is giving up on him"

Without another word, Sandy put her arm around JJ's shoulders, guiding her over to the bed where Michael lay, quiet and still, the hint of a smile playing around the corners of his mouth. He looked, to put it simply, terrible. His skin had purple undertones that it hadn't had before, and looked as thin as paper. He'd lost so much weight even in the time JJ had been gone that she felt as though she hardly recognized him anymore.

Moving around to the other side of the bed, JJ slowly sat down on the edge of the mattress. Michael seemed to register her presence, turning his head ever so slightly towards her.

"JJ?" he mumbled, his eyes remaining closed.

"Yeah Dad… it's me," she said softly, reaching over and placing her hand on top of his.

"You made the team," Michael breathed, his whisper just loud enough for JJ to hear. "I couldn't… be happier"

Too tired of holding it all in, JJ allowed the tears to fall unashamedly down her cheeks, the droplets landing to leave little patches on her USA sweatshirt she'd worn home.

"Don't speak Dad… you should save your energy for Jason… he's nearly home," she said tearfully.

The rest of the afternoon seemed to fade away. JJ whiled away the time sitting by her father's bedside, holding his hand and recounting her version of events from the Olympic Trials while he rested peacefully before her. Jason and Katie had arrived in from San Jose sometime in the early evening, allowing Jason to join them and also spend some time with his dad. Theresa had come in for a short while, mostly to offer comfort and support to her daughter, before leaving them in privacy and retreating downstairs, with the assurance that she was there if they needed her.

When Michael's breaths started to rattle and grow shorter, JJ was struck with fear. She cried until her eyes stung, until she could barely see through the tears. The light outside faded away ever so slowly, leaving them wrapped in nothing but the soft light emanating from the lamp in the corner of the room.

The hardest part for JJ was watching her brother break down in tears. He had always been so strong, the protective big brother she had always been able to run to, but now, he was vulnerable, scared, and heartbroken. The sight of her brother crying for his father was a sight that slowly tore JJ's heart in two.

Michael's labored, rattled breathing turned to gasping, like he was suffocating from the inside out. With her mother collapsed over the edge of the bed, her shoulders shaking terribly as Jason kept his arms around her, JJ kept a hold on her father's hand, fighting the urge to run out of the room in fear.

"You're ok Dad," she sobbed, placing her other hand on the top of his head. "You're ok, we're all here"

Turning to Olivia, who was hovering nearby in case she was needed, JJ had no words, but the fear in her eyes spoke volumes.

"It's alright," Olivia said softly, approaching JJ and placing a hand on her shoulder, her voice soft and reassuring even in the tragic circumstances. "His muscles aren't helping him swallow or cough to clear his throat anymore… he's not in any pain, his lungs are just fighting a little bit longer"

"You're ok," JJ breathed as tears tracked relentlessly down her cheeks. "It'll be over soon, I promise"

Slowly, the terrible sounds gave way to slowing breaths, the rise and fall of Michael's chest becoming few and far between as his entire body relaxed.

"I love you so much Dad," JJ sobbed, her eyes stinging painfully from all the tears. "Thank you for always believing in me… I promise I'll go to Rio and make you the proudest you've ever been"

As the last of the sunlight left the evening sky, dipping below the horizon with the sun, Michael became very still, and very quiet. The only sounds were the heartbroken sobs of a family left behind, the gentle rustle of the sheets as Olivia checked for a pulse, and the somewhat distant chattering of birds in the summer night.

It was just before nine.

"Eight fifty nine," Olivia said softly, confirming it to the room.

All too soon… he was gone.

* * *

 _ **I need you**_

Those three words in a text had immediately pulled Will into action. Even though the excitement of the previous evening had left him exhausted and ready for bed, he had not had a good feeling about JJ's dad. Therefore, he had forced himself to stay awake, and surely enough, it had paid off. After reading the text, he'd thrown on some clothes and a pair of shoes before driving the short fifteen minutes it took to get to JJ's.

Entering the house through the unlocked front door, he found it quiet, save for the sound of a kettle boiling in the kitchen. He recognized the huge bag that was JJ's travelling companion for meets sitting off to the side, her backpack perched precariously on top of it.

Looking over towards the kitchen, he could see Theresa leaning on the counter, waiting for the kettle to boil for a much needed cup of comfort tea. She caught his eye, managing a small smile and a nod, before pointing towards the stairs as if to say ' _she's up there_ '.

Nodding once to show her he had understood, he slipped quietly through the entrance. He kept his tread light on the way up the stairs towards JJ's room, not wanting to disturb anyone else in what was clearly a difficult time.

He reached the landing relatively quickly, crossing it and slowly pushing open JJ's bedroom door, expecting to find her curled up on her bed, or maybe in the chair by the window.

But the room looked completely untouched, apart from JJ's phone lying discarded on the bed. Frowning, Will stepped into the room, closing the door behind him. As he did so, he immediately spotted JJ out of the corner of his eye over to his left, huddled in a ball against the bathroom wall, her face buried in her knees as her shoulders shook terribly. She looked so vulnerable… so weakened by despair. Even on the worst nights of the nightmares about Roz, Will could never remember seeing JJ in as much emotional pain as she clearly was right now.

His heart thumped painfully in his chest as he slowly entered the bathroom and knelt down in front of JJ, his hands coming up to rest on her arms. His touch never frightened her, instead, warming her to his presence.

Seamlessly, she opened out, wrapping her arms around his neck and burying her tear stained face in his shoulder as he looped his arms around her back and held her as close as he possibly could. She was shaking with sobs, every hiccoughed breath just driving the devastation further into Will's heart.

"I've got you," he whispered in her ear, rubbing gentle circles on her back. "I've got you babe… cry as much as you need to… there's no shame in tears"

He knew. Michael had passed away. And from this moment on, he knew his beautiful girl was never going to be quite the same as what she once was.

* * *

It was the middle of the night before Will managed to coax JJ into bed; she was completely cried out and so exhausted that her eyelids had been drooping for the better part of an hour, but she had shown no inclination to move from the bathroom floor. Eventually, with some gentle guidance, she had followed Will back out into the bedroom and allowed him to help her change into her sleep clothes.

They had sat there on that cold bathroom floor, listening as the funeral home came to take her father's body away, as Jason holed himself up in his old room with Katie and cried, as Theresa came upstairs to comfort her grieving daughter. JJ hadn't uttered a single word all evening, remaining eerily silent, even as they changed their clothes and climbed into bed.

With the house in near silence, Will was starting to doze off, his exhaustion from San Jose and the emotional toll of the last few hours finally catching up with him. One arm looped over JJ's side to keep her grounded, he settled in, ready for some sleep. His eyes were heavy, and he was grateful for the soft pillow beneath his head.

"Will?"

He snapped his eyes open, finding JJ looking straight at him, her eyes red and swollen, her cheeks flushed pink. She looked an absolute wreck, but it didn't matter to Will. It never did.

"Thank you… for being here," she continued softly, her voice hoarse and raspy from all the tears. "You didn't have to do that"

Giving her a reassuring smile, Will brought his hand up to cup her cheek, his tender touch almost bringing tears to her eyes again.

"You said you needed me," he said softly. "I wouldn't be anywhere else"

Biting back the tears his sweet comment tried to stir up, JJ moved even closer to him, tucking her head beneath his chin and breathing in his scent as he kissed the top of her head.

"I'll be ok… given time," she whispered, her voice trembling slightly. "I just… keep thinking about him"

"He isn't suffering anymore… he's not in pain," Will breathed, his thumb tracing gentle circles on her hipbone.

"I know… but it hurts… I miss him… I want him to be here… it hasn't sunk in yet that he's…"

She trailed off, but Will knew where she was going.

"We don't have to talk now," he said gently. "It's too raw for you babe… try and get some rest… then in the morning, we'll tackle a new day"

But he never got a reply, for, completely exhausted and emotionally drained, JJ had already fallen asleep.


	109. Chapter 109

**A/N: I know it feels like JJ and her family seem way too ok for this point in time, but grief is weird as shit and different for everyone.**

* * *

Her head felt like lead from the moment she opened her eyes the next morning. It was still dark outside, the first rays of light just starting to peek over the horizon, meaning it had to be quite early.

Slowly pushing herself up, she sat there for a moment, her head clutched in her hands.

She hurt all over. Her eyes were sore and swollen, her stomach was hurting something terrible, and the pain in her head was radiating down her neck and her back.

The heavy ache in her chest was weighing her down like a rock, but, as quietly as she could so as not to wake Will, she slowly slipped out of the bed and padded across the carpet to the door.

When she slipped out into the hallway, she could hear someone softly clinking a spoon in a mug downstairs. That had to be Katie; girl was the queen of the early risers, always wanting to get in an early morning gym session before tackling whatever the day held.

Crossing the landing, JJ turned the handle to her parents' room, realising as she did so that her hands were shaking.

"Mom?" she whispered as she pushed the door open and slipped into the room.

Her mom was lying on her side in the bed, which Olivia had clearly remade for her the previous evening, but JJ knew she was awake. Sure enough, at the sound of JJ's voice, her head popped up, her face flooded with tired relief.

Shuffling over so JJ could lie down beside her, Sandy gave her daughter a tired smile, even though it didn't quite hide the pain in her eyes.

"Did you sleep at all?" JJ asked softly, resting her head on the pillow as she took her mom's hands.

"A little," Sandy replied. "I kept... kept dreaming about your dad"

JJ felt the tears coming back with a fresh vengeance, stinging her eyes terribly as she reached up to wipe them away.

"What about you?" Sandy asked, tucking JJ's hair back away from her eyes. "You of all people need your rest"

"I got some sleep," JJ breathed. "Will came over after I texted him... I'm glad he did"

"So am I," Sandy agreed softly. "I was worried that you were all alone in your room, letting your head get the better of you"

"Are we going to be ok?" JJ asked, her voice catching in her throat as she looked her mother straight in the eye.

Fighting back a sob, Sandy pulled JJ into her arms, holding her tight in the way only a mother could do, kissing the top of her head.

"Of course we will," she whispered. "Right now, it hurts like hell... but given some time... I think we'll be ok"

* * *

Needing to get out of the house, JJ had made the snap decision to go to training as usual. Will had not seen the point of trying to dissuade her, and had insisted upon driving her, not wanting her to drive in the state she was in. So just before eight, he dropped her off outside the gym, promising to pick her up when she was finished.

As she entered the gym slowly, JJ felt like a mess. Half of her felt completely numb, while the other half wanted to collapse in a crying heap somewhere. She was devastated, naturally, but her determination to power forward was overriding everything else.

Already, she could tell grieving was going to be a messy process, but for now, she wanted to throw herself into her routines and focus on preparing for the Olympic Games.

Teagan passed her as she was walking towards the cubbies to put her bag away, giving her a chirpy 'hello' as she grabbed some sandpaper off the table next to reception; she and Elliott were clearly elbow deep in preparing the bars for the day's training, and that involved scraping off built up layers of water and chalk.

Pulling her grips bag out of her main bag, she carried them around the trampolines to the edge of the floor, dropping them down beside her as she started stretching in place.

"Hey superstar, hope you're feeling a little more alive than I am this morning. It should be illegal for an airline to take thirteen hours to get you from San Jose to Pittsburgh, my old man back is _hating_ me," came Nick's joking voice as he walked by carrying a chalk bucket, a grin lighting up his features as he spoke.

He was only half expecting it when JJ burst into tears the second he had finished speaking.

"Hey... hey," he said softly, setting down the chalk bucket and approaching her calmly. He said nothing as he gently pulled JJ into his embrace and hugged her tightly. "What's going on today?"

She was crying in a way that he'd never seen from her before. The sobs emanating from her petite frame were much deeper than any of those she'd uttered before. Whereas Sunday night's tears had been of relief, joy, and yet, sadness, these tears were forming a weight like a rock in Nick's stomach.

Surely not...

"JJ," he breathed, just loud enough for her to hear. "Did your dad pass away yesterday?"

It was a moment before JJ responded, never lifting her head, instead choosing to nod into Nick's chest. A painful ache tore through his chest, his eyes burning with tears as he held JJ even tighter, wanting to do nothing more than pull her away from the pain she was feeling.

She really was like a daughter to him. He had known her nearly all her life, and he had never seen her as broken as she was right now. And it broke his heart, completely in two, to see his talented star gymnast, the girl who had grown immeasurably in confidence and maturity over the last four years, dealing with the grief of losing her father.

On the other side of the gym, Teagan turned to Elliott, looking immensely worried.

"What's happened?" she asked quietly.

Elliott looked incredibly sombre.

"I think her dad might have died," he said in a heavy undertone. Avoiding Teagan's gaze, he hung his head, heading back over to the bars and focusing his energy on tightening the tension cables, so as not to let anyone see that his eyes had just gotten awfully bright.

"JJ, you need to go home," Nick said gently, pulling away and bending down slightly so he could see JJ's face. She looked up at him, her blue eyes swimming in the tears that were dripping onto her jacket, shaking her head.

"I can't... I want to train, we leave for camp on Sunday," she said tearfully.

"I know, but I'm telling you... not today. One day off is not going to hurt you, I promise. What is going to hurt you is training when I think what you need to do is go home and spend time with your family," Nick said, reaching out and wiping away the tears tracking down JJ's cheeks. "Believe me, you'll be glad you took a day off"

Burying her face in her hands, JJ's shoulders shook with sobs again as Nick pulled her back in for another tight hug.

"I'm so sorry kiddo... you and your family don't deserve this"

* * *

After making sure JJ was safely on her way with Will, Nick retreated down the hallway to his office, avoiding every other staff member he saw on the way. He was in no mood to speak to anyone.

He wrenched the door open, bursting into his office and slamming it shut behind him so hard that the window out to the car park shook. He was seething, anger to grief and everything in between radiating off of his shaking form.

He had known Michael was going to die. But part of him had hoped, for JJ's sake, for a miracle, a miracle that would have let Michael continue to see JJ succeed, to walk her down the aisle, to watch his children go on into happy and successful lives. Now, he had to watch JJ cope with the grief of having lost her dad, someone who Nick knew firsthand had always been incredibly important in her life. While not made of stone, JJ was normally so strong, so calm and collected... seeing her so heartbroken was killing him. He hated cancer. He'd hated it when it took the life of his uncle, when he'd watched his normally stoic father crying over the loss of the only brother he had ever had. Even as a young child then, he had hated the disease that brought that pain on his father. Now that it was tearing his gymnast apart, he hated it more than he ever had before, the anger and vitriol shaking through his entire body. He had watched JJ grow from the age of four into the incredible young woman she now was, and he always had a place in his heart for her, a place that mirrored that of a daughter.

Whirling around in rage, he blindly threw a punch. The pain of his fist hitting the heavy wooden door didn't even register with him as he leant heavily against the desk on shaking arms, blood running from his injured knuckles.

Now, more than ever, he was going to have to be JJ's rock. He always had been, but now, he would have to step up even further.

He would do whatever it took to get her through the next month and a half.

That was the only thing he was absolutely certain of.


	110. Chapter 110

**A/N: A short one, but still, tissues! I feel like her eulogy could've been much better, but I couldn't get it to flow properly.**

* * *

Will's hand was resting against the small of her back, keeping her grounded and calm as she reached the wooden lectern and lay her printed speech down on it.

The room was a sea of black, packed to the brim with people from all over whose lives had been touched by one Michael Jareau. In the very front row, Sandy sat with her mother, Jason and Katie, and Michael's parents, who had finally managed to fly in from the United Kingdom. It was very rare that JJ saw her paternal grandparents ever since they had moved to Sheffield when she was five, and the hug her grandfather had given her earlier that morning had nearly reduced her to tears.

Behind her immediate family, Nick, and Will's parents were sitting beside Aly, Lynn, and Rick; the Raismans had wanted to pay their respects, having been close friends with the Jareaus for the length of Aly and JJ's careers, and so it had been arranged that Aly would fly to Houston for camp with JJ and Nick the following morning.

Taking a deep breath, JJ swallowed thickly, glancing down at the paper before her. Here she was, standing in front of all these people, ready to bear her heart and soul and be the most vulnerable she had ever been in a public space.

Feeling her tongue wanting to tie up in her throat, she went straight into it.

"My dad was the world's greatest dad," she started, speaking steadily and slowly to allow her voice to remain calm. "I know… everyone says that about their dad… but to me, he truly was"

Pausing for a moment, she took a breath, grounding herself once more through the gentle circles Will was tracing on the small of her back.

"The life I've led has been one that's far from normal, but I've always been so blessed to have the support and love from my mom and dad to continue on the path I've chosen. Throughout my entire life… my dad was always my biggest cheerleader. It wasn't uncommon for me to hear him going completely crazy in the stands at a meet. But it wasn't just me he supported with all his heart… my brother and sister always had him at their backs as well, whether it was with their grades, dance classes, soccer, or football… no matter what, we always knew that Dad would support us"

Her eyes were starting to fill with tears, prompting Will to put his arm around her a little tighter.

"It says a lot about his character, the size of his heart, and how much love he had for us, his three children, that no matter how well we performed in our endeavors, he was proud of us no matter what. I'll never forget what he said to me when at Worlds in 2010, I got injured on the first event in the first round of competition and was unable to compete. He told me that it didn't matter that I had fallen and gotten hurt, because I had gone out there with my country's colours on my back and given it everything I had. In my dad's eyes, it was a stepping stone to greater things, and he couldn't have been more right"

Swallowing back a sob, she slipped her free hand down into Will's, searching for some comfort and reassurance.

"Dad, you brought joy and love into everyone's lives… the world is at a great loss without you"

A glance up told her that most of the people congregated before her were in tears, prompting her to start losing her composure just a little.

"I promise that I'm going to continue on this path you've proudly supported me on… Dad… I'm going to go to Rio, and I'm going to make you proud… and no matter what happens… I know you'll be somewhere up above me… screaming and cheering until your throat is hoarse"

People were sniffling all around the room, making JJ's heart ache terribly.

"I love you Dad… we all love you. Thank you for always supporting us"


	111. Chapter 111

**A/N: Oh man, I've had a week.**

* * *

 _ **What did you think of JJ's performance at Trials? Do you think she deserves that spot on the team?**_

 _I'm answering your second question first and saying absolutely. She went out there and fought tooth and nail for her spot on the team, and honestly? She's had that spot all quad so long as she was healthy. She's fantastic. Her performances at Trials... wow. She finished less than a tenth behind Simone in the all-around rankings, so Rio is going to be VERY interesting indeed. I have to give the girl serious props for competing the way she did with everything that was going on at home, and while that could be a hindrance in Rio, she proved to Marta last year that she can handle the pressure when everything's falling apart back home, and clearly Marta knows she will go and get the job done, or she wouldn't have put her on the team._

 _ **Now that Simone is definitely going to Rio, I'm almost certain she's going to win the all-around. Who do you think are the best bets for silver and bronze?**_

 _A year ago, I 100% would have agreed with that sentiment, even with the knowledge that anything can happen in gymnastics. But, I have to recind that right now... yes, Simone is a heavy favourite and will probably knock it out and take home gold, but there's someone who, surprisingly, is likely to give Simone a serious challenge for that gold medal, and that someone is Jennifer Jareau. If you'd told me during London that she would become an all-around threat for Rio, I'd have laughed in your face. But she has done some serious upgrading and improving, and I wouldn't be surprised if she comes insanely close to Simone in all-around rankings. As for silver and bronze, well, silver will go to the second American, which at this rate, knowing Simone will be in the all-around, is most likely going to be JJ, and if it's not JJ, it'll be Aly Raisman. As for bronze, there's about ten who could possibly factor in. Shang Chunsong, Ellie Black, Ellie Downie, Aliya Mustafina, Angelina Melnikova... just to name a few. Bronze will come down to who has the day of their life, basically._

 _ **Now that we know the US team (YAY!), which medals do you think they will take home in Rio?**_

 _They could very easily take home eleven of eleven possible medals, but I think it's safer to say they're almost certain to take home ten. One from the team, two in the all-around, vault, beam, and floor, and one on bars. The ONLY question mark is JJ on bars. Madison is in that final regardless, but the eleventh medal will just depend on JJ's performance on the event. She can do it, but bars are where she unravels pretty quickly if it's not 100% on, so we'll have to see. But if she does manage... well, home girl might very likely win six medals in Rio. Like, holy crap, amiright?_

* * *

She had been dreading arriving at camp. Surely by now, all the girls were aware of what had happened, and being inundated with sympathy was something she didn't think she could handle.

But, much to her relief, there'd been no drama, no hysterics, no performance. As she had walked along the wooden path outside the dorms, Aly just behind her, the other six girls had wordlessly approached and each given her a tight hug, expressing all the sympathy they needed to without ever saying a word. For that reason, she had held it together, despite feeling like an exhausted wreck.

Later that evening, they had all settled in. Simone and Laurie were being their usual energetic and loud selves after being assured by JJ that being their usual selves wasn't going to upset her. With sunset drifting across the ranch, the girls were now sitting down to the first of their carefully prepared meals of the Olympic training camp.

Wordlessly moving along the buffet as she pushed her empty plate along the slider, Simone and Laurie chatting behind her, JJ looked miserably at all the food before her. Boiled vegetables in lemon juice, chicken or beef, a pasta option, among other things. It all looked delicious, but at the same time, she wasn't very hungry.

A light tap on her upper arm made her turn to find Rhonda Faehn, the senior vice president of USA Gymnastics, looking at her with a gentle smile. Without a word, Rhonda pulled JJ into a warm hug, a gesture that was completely genuine, and one that JJ appreciated immensely.

"How are you holding up?" she asked softly as she pulled away, her demeanour so reassuring that JJ immediately felt more relaxed than she had all week.

"I'm ok," JJ breathed, partially avoiding Rhonda's gaze.

She knew from the silence that followed that Rhonda hadn't bought her response at all, but moments later, she was thankful that she didn't question it.

"You're stronger than a lot of people give you credit for JJ. If you need anything over the next few weeks, don't hesitate to come to me, ok?" Rhonda said gently, placing a hand on JJ's shoulder.

Nodding, JJ lifted her eyes, managing a tiny smile.

"You better grab something to eat... Marta's already a little concerned about you. If you don't eat, it might send her into the first ever showing of her grandma mode," Rhonda said lightly, half grinning as she spoke.

JJ wanted to laugh at the idea of Marta fussing over her, but she didn't have the energy. Instead, she just nodded again, turning back towards the buffet to grab some food as Rhonda slowly turned and went to rejoin the coaches at the back of the dining hall.

Settling on a spoonful of the vegetables, two pieces of chicken, and a bread roll, JJ headed back over to the table where all the other girls had already sat down and started eating. They were talking loudly, animatedly... exactly as she wished she had the energy to do.

Seating herself down at the very end of the table, one seat away from Madison, she stared down at her plate. Heaving a heavy sigh, she picked up her fork and speared a piece of carrot.

As she lifted it to her mouth, she noticed out of the corner of her eye that someone had shuffled down the table to sit across from her.

When she looked up, expecting Aly or Simone, she was surprised to find Mykayla sitting diagonally across from her.

"Hope you don't mind," Mykayla said softly, casting JJ a warm smile. "Just didn't want you sitting alone"

JJ felt a curious mixture of emotions bubbling in her chest. First and foremost was frustration... just three days ago, she had seen a tweet that Mykayla had retweeted. It was from someone who had photoshopped Mykayla over JJ on the official Olympic team photo, clearly thinking Mykayla deserved the spot more. And judging from her response, Mykayla at least partially agreed.

"You'd rather I wasn't here altogether though," JJ muttered darkly, pulling the carrot off her fork with her teeth and chewing it slowly.

Mykayla sighed, nodding in understanding.

"It was stupid... to share that photo. Even if everything in your life was... as normal right now... I'd still feel just as bad. After everything you've been through, JJ... you deserve that spot a thousand times more than I do. As much as it pains me to admit that"

Swallowing the mouthful of food, JJ studied Mykayla, maybe hoping to decipher if she was lying.

But as far as she could tell... the younger girl was being totally genuine.

"Thank you," she said quietly.

"You know... I know you're feeling shitty right now... but you shouldn't isolate yourself from the girls. They're your team... they're here to support you, and they'll get you through this"

JJ looked down the table, where Simone was trying to balance a carrot on her nose amidst hysterical laughter.

She cracked the smallest of smiles.

"Yeah... I know they will... I just need a little bit of time to let it all sink in... we only had the funeral yesterday," JJ replied, fighting to keep her voice level.

Mykayla nodded. She might not have lost her dad, but clearly she understood JJ's loss to some sort of degree.

"Well... in the meantime, maybe you'd like this video my cousin sent me of her pug the other day. I couldn't stop laughing, I nearly wet myself"

Intrigued, JJ leaned over as Mykayla opened the video on her phone and pressed play.

Moments later, she couldn't stop the laughter that was escaping her as the two of them sat there watching the antics of the little pug.

And for a moment... she felt like, just maybe, everything would be ok.


	112. Chapter 112

**A/N: Enjoy!**

* * *

With intense trainings being the hallmarks of their days, the camp began to blur into one long stream.

Grieving though she still was, JJ had discovered that throwing herself head-on into her gymnastics was giving her a refreshed perspective, something to focus on other than the heartache she'd experienced. She knew that once she got home, she was going to have a lot to work through to come to terms with the loss, but for now, she was feeling a little less miserable and a little happier being around the girls at camp.

Just before lunch on the morning of July 21st, the eight girls lined up before Marta at the end of their training session. They were exhausted and covered head to toe in chalk, but the completion of every training session brought the Olympics just that little bit closer, and the fire was still burning brightly inside them all.

"Good training, girls. You are all handling the pressure very well, I am pleased," Marta said with a smile. "We must keep to perfecting the little things… make everything little bit cleaner, little bit tighter"

Her demeanor relaxed as she lowered her clipboard, her smile seeming to become even more genuine.

"I think you will be excited," she said with a chuckle. "After lunch, it is time to get your leotards and Olympic gear"

The girls all perked up, looking at each other excitedly with huge smiles growing across their faces.

"Go and relax for a few hours, and we will rejoin for another training at half past three"

"Thank you Marta, coaches, and national staff, goodbye"

Excited chatter filtering from the group, the girls headed for the lockers to grab their things before leaving the hall. JJ moved a little slower than the rest, lost in thought as she trudged towards the locker alcove.

"You ok?" Aly asked, sidling up beside JJ.

"Yeah… I'm alright," JJ replied honestly. "Excited for leotards?"

"You know I love getting new leos," Aly laughed, draping an arm around JJ's shoulders. "We are gonna look _faaaaabulous"_

Shaking her head, JJ had to laugh. She was glad Aly had not strayed from being her usual self. After all, a healthy dose of laughter was definitely needed every now and then.

* * *

With lunch finished, the girls had all headed straight for one of the conference rooms, where a representative from GK Elite had been waiting with two people from Nike.

One by one, they received their Olympic gear. Eight stunning competition leotards, fourteen training leotards, half of which were from Aly and JJ's signature collection they had designed the previous year. They all received large bags emblazoned with the US Olympic team insignia. Inside the bags were Nike branded shirts, leggings, pants, sweatshirts, a backpack to take to the competitions, a water bottle, a grips bag, shoes and socks, among other bits and pieces. Another set of warm-ups that matched the blue ones from Trials, these ones a brilliant red, accompanied a smarter set of warm-ups that were navy blue with red sleeves and USA written in red down the back; clearly, the navy set was intended as podium wear.

"Yes! Pins!" Aly cried triumphantly some ten minutes later after digging furiously through her bag. JJ laughed, dropping one of the t-shirts back into her own bag. After winning medals, Aly's favourite Olympic activity was definitely taking part in the pin trading.

Reaching in, JJ pulled out the plastic garment bag holding her leotards. All the girls making a bid for Rio had been being carefully sized up since earlier in the year, with various fittings in plain mockups of the leotards the Olympic team would be wearing. But today was the first time JJ had seen the designs. Almost tentatively, she opened the bag to have a look at each leotard.

First was a patriotic ensemble that was mostly navy; with a red diagonal section covering the left shoulder. It was covered in Swarovski crystals; starbursts on the navy, wavy stripes on the red.

Next was a blue bodied leotard with white sleeves, and a white and red stripe separating the blue from the sleeves. Like its predecessor, it was also covered in crystals.

The one that she pulled out next, she actually recognized as the red and navy leotard from the Team USA media summit. It was a bright red, with a white and then navy stripe covering the V shaped neckline.

Fourth came a leotard that JJ had the strange feeling she recognized from somewhere. It was mostly white, with a red ombre at the bottom. The top was navy, with red wavy stripes going from their left shoulder down across their chest.

JJ felt a small burst of patriotic pride. She really hoped that one was the one they wore for the team final.

The next two were carbon copies of each other, if not for the colours. One was a deep blue ombre, with red accents on the neck and sleeves. The other was a white to red ombre, with a white neckline and blue touches on the sleeves.

She loved the ombre, but she wasn't sure how she felt about the one with the red neckline.

Lastly were two plain red leotards. One was a recolour of the purple leotard they had worn for qualifications in Glasgow the previous year, which JJ had rather liked. The other was deep red with mesh sleeves, emblazoned with a healthy dose of Swarovski. In fact, it rather reminded JJ of the leotard they had worn for the 2012 team final.

She smiled.

She loved them all.

Laden with gear, the girls all returned to their dorms to enjoy some free time before their second training of the day.

With only three days left until they departed for Rio, the excitement was definitely building.

All they knew was they just couldn't wait to get started.


	113. Chapter 113

**A/N: Can't wait to get to the Olympics!**

* * *

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOMMA JJ!"

The shriek was accompanied by a flying body landing squarely on top of JJ, waking her up with a yelp as other voices started to laugh.

"Thanks Simone," JJ groaned, curling up on her side and pulling her pillow over her head. Even though she'd rather have still been sleeping, she was already fighting off a smile.

"Did I hurt you, I'm so sorry, oh my god-"

"No, just a knee straight into my stomach," JJ said with a groan, pulling the pillow back so she could look up at Simone, who was still sitting on top of her wearing a grin larger than life itself. "Who let you in?"

"Aly," Simone giggled.

"Of course," JJ said with an eyeroll, looking over towards Aly's bed where her best friend was sitting with a grin.

"We got you presents!" Laurie chimed in gleefully from the doorway. At that, Simone shifted, finally allowing JJ to sit up. As soon as she was sitting, Laurie and Madison approached, handing her a small gift bag.

"You guys didn't have to do that," JJ said sincerely, a smile creeping onto her face.

"Well, you're celebrating your birthday at camp, training your ass off, and you've had… a shit year… so yeah, we kinda did," Aly insisted, getting up and adding a wrapped present to the gift bag now sitting at JJ's side. As she did, Simone reached down onto the floor beside JJ's bed, producing another gift bag which she added to the small pile.

"Thank you guys," JJ replied, picking up Laurie and Maddie's gift as she gave them a warm smile. "Really, it means a lot"

Laurie and Maddie, not being as close to JJ as Simone and Aly, had opted for a cute set of sweat bands for JJ to wear under her grips on bars, as her old ones were starting to get a little gross. They were a deep blue, with white stars all over them outlined in red; very patriotic.

"Just what you need for the Olympics," Laurie giggled as JJ reached over and gave both girls a hug.

Simone had bought JJ some new makeup, including a Too Faced eyeshadow pallet she'd been eyeing off for quite some time but had never got around to buying, as well as a bag of Jolly Rancher candies.

"I know you like to keep a bag of candy in your bag at meets for when you have "low blood sugar"," Simone giggled as she air quoted the words. JJ had to laugh; she mostly kept the candy around for when she needed a little boost, or to stop her chewing her lip when she was nervous.

"Thanks Simone"

However, it was Aly's gift that practically reduced her to tears. With Aly squeezed in beside her as the five of them sat huddled on her bed, JJ had pulled off the wrapping to reveal a gorgeous leather bound photo album.

Opening it, she found photos chronicling her journey through gymnastics, dating as far back as 2009.

"Oh my god, is that you guys at your first nationals?" Laurie gasped.

"Yes," JJ laughed. "I look like a fetus"

The girls all laughed, flicking through the pages of the book. Laurie, Madison, and Simone oohed and aahed over the photos from the Olympics, but it was the last page of photos that brought JJ to tears.

All photos of her and her dad, her dad cheering ecstatically in the crowd, her dad crying with joy when she had made the Olympic team. All surrounding a note that Aly had written and placed in the middle.

 _He was always so proud of you, no matter what, and we know you'll make him proud again in Rio_

"Aly," JJ said tearfully as Aly put an arm around her shoulders. "This is amazing"

"I knew you'd like it," Aly said softly. "I didn't want to make you sad with the last page… but I think it's an important part of your life in gymnastics"

"It just… doesn't even feel real that he's gone, you know? I feel like it hasn't hit me properly yet"

"Well, when it does… you have an amazing support network that's here to pick up the pieces," Aly said warmly. "And in the meantime? The four of us are here for you no matter what in Rio. We're your team, and we're going to get you through this"

As they all enveloped her in a tight hug, JJ was smiling through her tears.

"I love you guys. I love you all so much"

* * *

As a celebration for JJ's birthday, and to give the girls a bit of a break from the Ranch, Marta and Rhonda had elected to take the girls, their coaches, and the national team staff out for dinner in Huntsville, a half hour drive from the training center.

Seated in a quaint little Italian restaurant, everyone was chatting happily to one another. Nick had somehow gotten himself stuck between Aimee and Maggie, Laurie's coach, who were talking animatedly to each other before giving Nick the chance to shuffle down beside Mihai. Catching JJ's eye, he rolled his eyes jokingly, making her giggle as Aimee swatted his shoulder with a grin.

"Wonder if Marta would let me have a glass of wine?" Aly mused, swilling some water around in her glass with a mischievious grin on her face. JJ chuckled, shaking her head as a waiter approached the table.

"You're a loose cannon Raisman," she teased, getting a nudge in return.

"Are you ready to order?" the waiter asked Rhonda, who was sitting across from JJ a little further down the table. She was the only person not in conversation.

"Just one minute, we're waiting for a couple more people," she said with a smile, her gaze falling somewhere in the direction of the restaurant door.

"Who are we waiting for?" JJ asked Aly, who shrugged as she poured herself another glass of water.

Moments later, a whiff of something very familiar met JJ's nose. She knew that smell so well… in fact, she was sure she'd _bought_ that.

"Happy birthday beautiful"

"Oh my god!" JJ cried, leaping out of her chair and whirling around to find Will standing behind her as the entire table laughed and clapped. She threw her arms around him, burying her face in his shoulder and willing herself not to cry.

"How are you holding up?" Will asked softly, rubbing her back gently to keep her calm; he had sensed all the repressed emotion she was holding back.

"I'm ok," she said gently as she pulled away. When she did, she suddenly realized her mom was also there, a few steps behind Will. Unable to fight off her smile, she turned, accepting a warm and incredibly reassuring hug from her mom, a hug she had arguably needed all camp long.

"What are you guys doing here? I thought you weren't coming until Sunday night?"

"We spoke to Nick. He said Marta was planning a dinner for your birthday and wanted us to be there, so of course we came," Sandy said warmly.

As she stepped back, JJ was aware of how thin her mom looked. While she had been able to throw herself head first into training for the Olympics, her mom had been alone in that big old house in Pennsylvania, with nothing but grief to occupy her mind.

"Don't worry about me," Sandy said with a knowing smile, brushing JJ's hair out of her eyes. "Will's been keeping me company, and your brother calls every day"

JJ smiled, her eyes growing awfully bright. Seeing her mom was just bringing all the pain, the loss, bubbling back to the surface. Swallowing thickly, she forced it as far out of her mind as she possibly could; now was not the time to deal with it.

With a little reshuffling, everyone was finally comfortably seated; Will between JJ and Aly, and Sandy beside Nick, across from her daughter.

Dinner was a conversational affair, and after spending two hours talking and laughing with her teammates, her mom, and Will, JJ was feeling considerably lighter. They had entertained the restaurant with a rousing rendition of 'Happy Birthday', much to JJ's embarrassment.

Later that evening, they were all headed back to the ranch, where Sandy and Will were being put up until Monday afternoon when the team would leave for Rio.

Feeling refreshed and reassured, JJ had fallen into her bunk.

She was asleep before she'd even fully settled onto her pillow.


	114. Chapter 114

**A/N: #ISTANDWITHYOU McKayla Maroney**

* * *

The summer air was heavy and warm, but as she sat on a bench overlooking the lake, JJ found it quite comfortable. After the stuffiness of the gym all day, she was glad to be outside getting some fresh air.

"You're not thinking about throwing yourself in are you?"

Looking around, JJ smirked as Will sidled up to the bench.

"No… but I might now that you're here," she teased. Will put a hand over his heart, feigning shock.

"Now that's just mean," he chuckled, jumping up onto the bench to sit beside her. Settling onto the wooden planks, he reached over and took JJ's hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. JJ smiled, shuffling a little closer and resting her head on his shoulder.

A silence fell between them, broken only by the chirping of birds, and the gentle splashes of water as the ducks dove for food on the lake. It was so peaceful that, even under the staggering pressure of the Olympic Games, and the grief she was pushing further away every day, she felt immensely calm.

There was so much she wanted to say, but she felt like she was never going to find the words to be able to express it. But sitting there, clear mind, clear heart… maybe… just maybe, she'd find some of those words.

"Are you ok?" Will asked softly, tipping his face towards her.

"Yeah," JJ breathed, lacing her fingers through Will's.

Lifting his free hand, Will tipped JJ's chin up so that she was looking straight at him.

"Are you ok?" he repeated.

With his eyes directly on her, JJ didn't have the heart to lie. Taking a deep breath, she dropped her gaze again

"I… I feel like there's something wrong with me"

Sitting up straighter, Will frowned. "Why?"

JJ sighed. "Because… my dad just died… and I'm here… training for the Olympics… laughing and actually enjoying myself with the girls… but I feel like I shouldn't be"

"JJ, everyone grieves differently. You of all people are probably going to have delayed grief… because you've worked your whole life for this moment and you're not about to throw it away… especially when this was all your dad wanted for you from the moment you decided you wanted to go back to the Olympics. Being here, training and working hard, and actually enjoying it, is not a sin, JJ. Actually? It's probably good for you… because you cope best in hard times when you have something to focus on," Will said gently, breaking his hold on her hand to lift his arm around her shoulders.

"He's the first thing I think about when I wake up every day, and the last thing I think about before I go to sleep… but I feel… bad… because… I'm not as upset as I think I should be right now"

Pulling her close, Will pressed a gentle kiss to the top of her head.

"You're here… living out the life he wanted you to live. Your dad wouldn't want you to bury yourself in a bed in a heap of tears… but by that right, if that's what you wanted to do, no-one would stop you"

Leaning back slightly, he smiled down at her.

"You're a lot tougher than you give yourself credit for, beautiful. You are here, carrying out this dream that's lived with you since you were a kid, through all the shitty stuff that's happened, and that's exactly what your dad would want you to do"

Pulling her back in once more, he rubbed her back as he tried to offer her the reassurance he knew she was searching for so desperately.

"There's plenty of time in the world for tears. Right now… just enjoy this experience… live every moment to the fullest… and go out there and do it for your dad"

* * *

Some hours later, she was lying wide awake in bed. Talking with Will earlier had helped lift some of the weight off of her chest, even if it hadn't gone away entirely.

Aly was fast asleep across the room, sprawled on her stomach with her long brown hair going every which direction. Hoping to be that way in just a few minutes, JJ set her phone down on the table behind her bed, rolling over onto her side and snuggling beneath her sleeping bag.

She had just made a post on her Instagram… something that she hoped would help her in the coming weeks of her life, and something she hoped would help other people experiencing the same struggles.

The picture had been a picture of a black support ribbon – the ribbon for grief support.

 _ **Grief is something everyone is going to experience at some point in their lifetime. It's confusing, it's hard, and sometimes, it's a little messy. This last week at camp has been both very easy and very hard. For once, the gymnastics is the easy part. The hard part has been what I now know is my delayed grief about losing my dad. Losing my dad was and still is so painful, something I never thought I would experience at this stage of my life, yet here I am. But with so much going on, I've thrown myself in head first, and I've been…. Ok. Not an emotional wreck like people expect me to be, but not my usual self either.**_

 _ **Everyone grieves differently. You might cry for three weeks straight after losing a loved one, or you might march on with life as normal until you come home from work a month later and collapse in tears after dropping your keys in the dish on the hall table. It's ok. I know that now. It's ok to be ok, and it's ok to not be ok. Either way, you do what you need to do to take care of yourself, because your health and happiness has to come first.**_

 _ **So right now, I'm… tentatively ok. Maybe in a week I won't be as ok, but with the Olympics to focus on, I'm charging forward with my life because that's exactly what my dad wanted. I know, in the end, it's all going to work out.**_

 _ **Thank you all so much for the lovely messages of support. We appreciate them a lot, and I'll certainly keep them in my mind as I go out to represent the USA in two weeks time.**_

Maybe… just maybe… she would be ok.


	115. Chapter 115

**A/N: So much gymternet drama its crazy!**

* * *

 _ **This Olympic team is like… the most diverse team the USA has ever sent to the Games. An African-American girl, a Hispanic girl and a Jewish girl make up over half the team!**_

 _ **Yeah, and then they're joined by two of the whitest white girls I've ever seen.**_

"This just in… you and Maddie are apparently 'two of the whitest white girls' ever," Aly giggled as she scrolled through Twitter on her phone. "People get so hung up on this crap"

"I don't know," JJ mused, holding out her arm against Laurie's deep olive toned skin. "I'd say I'm pretty goddamn white"

The girls laughed. They were all sitting in a huddle on the floor of the boarding lounge at George Bush Intercontinental Airport, stretching as they talked and laughed amongst themselves. Around them were a mixture of other Team USA Olympians and coaches, as well as a multitude of excited tourists who were clearly heading down to Brazil to watch the Games live.

In roughly half an hour's time, they would board the United Airlines flight that would take them to Rio de Janeiro, the beginning of what would be one of the greatest months of their lives.

"Eww," Aly groaned, wrinkling her nose as she looked up at JJ. "I'd, uh, stay off Tumblr for a little while"

"Why?" JJ frowned.

"Someone's decided to make comments about your sex life," Aly muttered under her breath, just loud enough for the girls to hear. "And they've picked the worst context to frame it in"

"Let me see that," JJ said, reaching out and taking Aly's phone from her hands.

 _ **Gymfanconfessions: "With all these allegations against Larry Nassar, it makes you wonder about some of the current national team members… I mean… JJ is (presumably) sexually active, wouldn't that be something he would've preyed on?"**_

 _ **jareaumanar: Uh, GFC, what the actual fuck? Who's moderating these? Confessor… you're a fucking creep. Whether JJ is or isn't sexually active isn't any of our business, and mentioning that in relation to Larry Nassar is just grossly inappropriate. Jesus fucking Christ.**_

Even shrouded from the world at the Olympic camp, the girls had been aware of the growing whispers about the former national team doctor, Larry Nassar. JJ knew she was lucky enough to have never been treated by him, but even so… knowing people online were casting speculation was enough to unsettle anyone.

"It gets clearer every day that that website is filled with teenagers. And people with zero tact," JJ said darkly as she handed the phone back. "But I'm sending 'jareaumanar' flowers"

Aly laughed, shaking her head as she set the phone back down beside her.

Half an hour later, the eight girls were leading the charge down the jetway towards the plane, their huge backpacks slung over their shoulders.

"Hey girls!" Simone called out from the front, holding her phone out in front of her as she recorded a Snapchat video. "Where are we going?"

"TO THE OLYMPICS!" the others all shrieked, getting a cheer from some nearby tourists who were also clearly heading to Rio, as was evident by the bright American flag T-shirts they were wearing.

Soon enough, they were all seated on board the plane; Simone, Laurie, and Maddie on the right hand side, Aly and JJ in the middle with Nick on JJ's left, and the rest of their coaches and travelling staff filling out the rest of their row and the row behind them. Marta was on the window on the far left, and to JJ, it looked like she was already hard at work scrutinizing potential lineups for the competition.

Not too long after that, the plane was taxiing down to the runway, and there was a murmur of excited chatter amongst the girls.

" _Cabin crew to takeoff positions"_

"This is it," Aly whispered excitedly, reaching over and squeezing JJ's hand. JJ could hardly contain her grin. Memories of the flight to London four years ago were bringing all the excitement rushing back.

With a roar, the engines came to life, propelling the plane smoothly down the runway. Less than a minute later, they were in the air, Houston fading away into nothing but twinkling lights beneath them.

Settling into her seat, JJ closed her eyes.

In eleven hours time, they would be in Rio, and they would be one step closer to making those dreams come true again.

* * *

" _Ladies and gentleman, this is your captain speaking. Welcome to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The time is 11:03am on July 26th, and it is a beautiful day outside. I would like to make a special mention at this time. We had the pleasure today of flying some Olympians from the United States National Team, who are obviously heading to Rio to compete in the Olympic Games and represent our country. It gives us great pride to have been able to transport them to Rio de Janeiro, and we wish them all the best in their athletic endeavors"_

The plane broke out into applause as Simone leaned over and looked at JJ and Aly with a huge grin on her face.

It was real. They were in Rio.


	116. Chapter 116

**A/N: I really like this chapter, please leave your thoughts in a review!**

* * *

Clearing security at the airport had been the most difficult part of getting to Rio. With inbound flights coming from all corners of the globe, carrying athletes and tourists alike, the immigration lines had been nothing short of insane.

After saying their goodbyes to Mykayla, Gabby, and Ragan, who were heading to Team USA's alternate lodging in Ipanema, they had boarded a bus that was shuttling Olympic team members from the airport to the Olympic Village. Exhausted as they were from the flight, the girls couldn't help but watch in wonder as the world of Rio de Janeiro cruised by them from the other side of the windows. Rio 2016 banners lined just about every fence and wall they passed, great splashes of green in a city that seemed to be coming back to life.

The armed guards at the entrance to the village were something the girls hadn't been expecting, but by the time they had gotten off the bus and through processing, it had been pushed to the back of their minds.

"I'm gonna take a nap. Forever. Wake me up when it's time to go home," Aly groaned as she fell onto her bed in the room she and JJ were sharing.

"Grandma Aly is willing to nap through medals?" JJ teased, heaving her bag up onto her own bed, which was adorned with a brightly coloured Rio 2016 duvet. "Just FYI, I'm shoving one of these duvets in my bag before we leave, and if it doesn't fit, it's going in yours"

"Sure thing," Aly chuckled, rolling over and pulling the drawer of the bedside table out; in London, the Olympic organizers had left a collection of pins in every bedside table in the Village. Surely Aly was hoping to nab some more.

"I'm going to call Will, let him know we're alive," JJ said, already dialing Will's number on her phone.

It rang nearly six times before he eventually picked it up.

" _Hey"_

"Hey," JJ said with a frown; he sounded cranky. "Please try and contain your excitement to be hearing from me"

" _Ok smartass. You're in Rio, I'm guessing?"_

"Yeah, we've just gotten to our rooms now. Aly's ready for a nap"

" _Of course she is"_

"Oh wow, check this out JJ!" Aly suddenly exclaimed, practically diving into the nightstand to reach something in the drawer.

JJ reached over, pulling open her own drawer. "How's my mom?"

" _She's fine. We got back to Pittsburgh late last night and went straight to bed. Was your flight ok?"_

"Yeah, nothing exciting," JJ replied, rifling through the drawer. She didn't immediately see what Aly was so excited over until she shuffled through all the goodies at the top. At the bottom of the drawer was a box labeled "Samsung", and from the picture on the top, it apparently contained a limited edition Samsung Galaxy S7, adorned with holographic Olympic rings.

In her ear, Will was huffing frustratedly over something in his vicinity.

"You ok?" she asked, sitting down on the edge of the bed, the new phone clutched in her hand.

" _Yes, I'm fine,"_ Will replied, a grumpy edge on his voice.

Frowning, JJ tilted her head slightly as she listened to him.

"Why are you in a bad mood?"

" _I'm not in a bad mood,"_ Will insisted, but the grumble in his voice gave it away immediately.

"Yes you are," JJ said, half a smile finding its way onto her face as Aly looked up with a grin. "What's going on?"

" _I fucked up my phone last night when we got home… I dropped it as we were coming out of the terminal and the screen shattered into about a million pieces. It's practically fucking useless… I was looking up how much it'll cost to be repaired just before you called… might as well just a buy a new damn phone"_

Looking down at the phone in her hand, JJ grinned.

"You won't have to"

" _You're not buying me a new phone JJ,"_ Will said dryly.

"No… Samsung have given all the Olympic athletes a limited edition Galaxy S7… obviously I'm not going to use it because I have an iPhone… so you can have it, and then you don't have to buy a new phone, and I don't get stuck with a phone I'm never going to use"

" _Seriously?"_ Will asked incredulously.

"Seriously," JJ affirmed. "You'll get to walk around with a phone that has holographic Olympic rings on it"

" _You're sure you don't want it?"_

"Will, I hate Samsung phones, I used to bitch about my da…," she trailed off, the stab of grief in her chest hitting harder than she'd expected it to. Shaking it away, she collected herself. "I just don't like them, so if you want it, it's yours"

Will paused for a moment; he'd clearly heard what JJ was about to say, and wondered briefly whether it was worth pressing her to talk. Reasoning that Aly had also heard it, and that that comment aside, JJ actually sounded ok, he decided to let it be for now.

" _Thanks babe… that made my day. I can't wait to hurl this lunk of glass out now"_

Managing a laugh, JJ shook her head. "I hope you didn't let fly with all your best curse words in front of my mom"

" _She heard a few,"_ Will chuckled. _"She was laughin' actually, not about the phone, but at me swearin'… said it was funny because I'm normally 'such a gentleman'"_

JJ snorted. "She needs her eyes checked"

" _You chose me, no complainin'"_

Looking up, JJ saw that Simone had come in and was eagerly beckoning for Aly and JJ to come with her.

"Hey babe, I gotta go… Simone wants to go exploring," she said with a grin.

" _Go have fun, ok? I'll call you when I get to Rio"_

"I love you"

" _I love you too JJ, don't ever forget it"_

* * *

A few hours later, back in Pittsburgh, Will was setting about making dinner for himself and Sandy, while Sandy stood at the kitchen counter sipping a cup of coffee.

"You're sure I can't do something to help?" she asked softly as she set the mug down before herself.

Will smiled, shaking his head. "It's ok… kinda have my own rhythm I get into when I cook"

Sandy smiled fondly, her gaze falling just in front of her mug.

"That's what Michael used to say," she said quietly, a light yet sad chuckle lingering in her voice. "He'd never let me help him make a roast. Everything else was a two person job. But hell would have to freeze over before he'd let me near his precious roast"

Will chuckled, straightening up and leaning against the counter as he waited for the oven to warm up. "He was always very territorial about that, wasn't he?"

"That's one word for it," Sandy said with a smile that was almost a laugh. "' _Sandy, you don't understand, there's a rhythm to making a roast, and I love you, but if you try to help me, it's going to be a disaster'"_

Catching Will's eye, she couldn't help but laugh as the memory washed over her.

Even though it was painful as anything, and she missed her husband terribly, it felt good to laugh over the memories.

"Thank you for of this Will… staying here, cooking, cleaning… it means a lot. Makes it a little easier when there's company," she said sincerely. "Jason really appreciates it as well. I mean, he wanted to stay, but there's only so long he and Katie can be away from the dogs, especially seeing as they'll be in Rio for two weeks very soon as well"

Will nodded knowingly; Jason and Katie had two massive Rhodesian Ridgebacks, aptly named Tinkerbell and Thumbelina. They were looked after by the couple's neighbor when they were away, but having met them just once, Will knew they could be a handful for even the most prepared and hardy of dog people.

"It's no trouble… I didn't really want you to be here by yourself after everything that's happened, and I know JJ was worried as well"

Sandy sighed, picking up the mug again. "Personally I think we should be a little more concerned about her… losing a loved one is hard enough at the best of times, but when you're representing your country at the Olympic Games… well, that's a whole different can of worms"

"You think she won't be able to handle it?"

"Oh, look, she's JJ, I think she'll manage the Games reasonably fine, she'll maybe just be a little more emotionally fragile than usual, but… I think we might have some fallout to deal with when she gets home. Because she's going to push it all down and not deal with it, and then she'll come home and she won't have gymnastics to throw herself into and she'll just explode"

Will grimaced slightly; Sandy couldn't have described JJ more accurately if she tried.

"What about you?" he asked gently. "How are you handling it?"

Sandy fell silent for a moment, seemingly deep in thought. Tapping her fingertips against her mug, she pursed her lips for a moment, before looking back up at Will.

"I'm… ok," she said truthfully. "Not great, but not terrible either. The way I look at it is… we were lucky. We had time. We knew Michael was going to leave us, and hard as that was, we had time to mentally prepare for that. Some people aren't that lucky. They go to work and they're killed in a car accident on the way home, and you just get thrown into this horrible pool of grief and tragedy. What we went through, and are still going through, it sucks, there's no two ways about it… but in my eyes… we were very lucky to have had the time with Michael that we did, and I will always be grateful for that. It's going to make this messy grieving process just that little bit easier. And I know that he wouldn't want us to be moping around, sad, and missing him all the time… he'd want us to go on and continue our lives. I mean, look at JJ. We might all know she's a bit of an emotional wreck on the inside, but she's forging on, because it's what she wants, and it's what he wanted her to do. So I just… get up every morning… and tackle the day as it comes, and try to go on as best I can… because that's exactly what Michael would want me to do"

Will had to swallow back the lump in his throat. He'd always known that JJ's quiet strength and tenacity had been inherited from her mother, but it was quietly blowing him away just how strong Sandy could be in the face of such a devastating turn of events for her family.

"But let's talk about something else," Sandy said with a gentle smile. "How are you feeling about watching the Olympics?"

"Stressed," Will replied immediately, making Sandy laugh.

"Wait 'til you see Lynn Raisman in action. My god, I wouldn't be surprised if she's already pulling her hair out"

"It's just such a big thing, and the girls have a lot of pressure on them," Will said quietly. Glancing down at the oven, he noticed the warming light was off. Grabbing the tray with the cut of meat on it, he opened the oven door. "I feel like I probably won't breathe until it's over"

"You won't. You think it'll be the same as Worlds, and then you get there and there's just Olympic freakin' rings everywhere and every time you're watching her compete, you have those rings burned into the back of your mind, and deep down you know it's so much bigger than anything else. It's an incredible experience to have… but it's stressful as well. The girls will handle it a lot better than we will," Sandy chuckled. Will closed the oven door, straightening up and wiping his hands on the dish towel.

"Well… bring it on I suppose"

Sandy grinned.

"Bring it on indeed"


	117. Chapter 117

**A/N: Little surprise here!**

* * *

The days in Rio flew by. The Olympic Village gradually filled up, each day in the dining hall bringing a new hoard of jetlagged faces who had clearly only arrived the previous evening. Excitement was building, as was the eager anticipation for all athletes to begin their events.

JJ's emotional status tended to rock back and forth on any given day, but one thing that did keep the grief at bay was throwing herself into the job she had been sent to Rio to do. She was determined to show Marta and prove to the world that she could handle the immense pressure as a defending Olympic Champion on top of everything else life was throwing at her.

They had been training as hard as they did at home, and having left home with a few more rough edges to round out, the team was looking incredible after a week's work. With podium training to be held in the competition arena the following day, the girls were getting excited; two more sleeps, and the Olympics would officially begin.

Will had called the morning previously to say that he and JJ's mother had arrived safely at their hotel with Sandy's mother, Theresa, in tow. Jason and Katie had flown in that evening, with Will's parents just an hour behind them. Together, the seven of them would form a support team that JJ couldn't have been more grateful for if she tried.

Knowing Olympic accommodation would be hard to come by, Sandy had joined forces with the Raismans early in the year to secure a group of refundable apartments in Barra Da Tijuca that they would all share, minimizing both the costs and the travel time; the gymnastics arena was only three streets away, meaning they were able to walk the distance to the events.

"Normally I'm exhausted at this point in a competition week," Aly chuckled as the girls walked back to their bags after a morning training session. "But I seriously can't complain when I'm at the freakin' Olympics"

JJ grinned, glancing over Aly's shoulder to see where Nick had gone; his phone had rung about ten minutes before the end of practice, and after checking the caller ID, he had excused himself to take the call.

"You hanging in there ok?" Aly asked quietly as she pulled tape off of her ankles.

JJ shrugged. "Yeah… you guys are helping me stay out of my head… making me laugh… it's really helping. I think… maybe everything might hit me when we go out to compete and I realize… he's really not there? But I think for now, I'll be alright. I promise I'm not about to fall apart on you guys"

"Jayje, you can fall apart if you need to," Aly said gently. "Holding it all in is gonna make you explode at some point, and I really don't want you to inflict that on Will"

JJ sighed, breaking into a gentle smile as she thought of her boyfriend. "He's good at dealing with me when I'm falling apart. Crying… snot, pushing him away, the whole shebang"

Aly laughed, patting JJ's knee in a comforting sort of way.

"Seriously though… if you get to ten pm the night before qualifications and all you want to do is curl up and cry, go for it. You've experienced a massive loss. It's ok to meltdown every once in a while. Besides… we know you'll go out and nail it when you need to. Look at the team final last year. You killed it despite having found out what you did the night before"

JJ took a deep breath, looking Aly directly in the eyes. How her friend always knew what to say, she'd never be quite sure, but her words were stirring _something_ deep in her chest.

"Thanks," she managed to say as she swallowed back the lump in her throat. "Really, Aly… thank you"

"Love you like a sister," Aly said with a smile, reaching over and giving JJ a quick hug.

As they pulled apart, JJ spotted Nick walking towards them, tucking his phone back into his pocket as he did. His face read something in between utter bewilderment and sheer excitement, making JJ immediately curious.

"All good Nick?" Aimee asked as he reached the group.

"Yeah… that was Tasha," he said somewhat lamely, running a hand through his hair.

Tasha was Nick's wife of nearly ten years. Having met Nick in early 2002, she had known JJ and her family for the entirety of JJ's career in gymnastics. While she didn't get to see her very often, JJ had always liked Tasha, and thought she was the perfect match for Nick's calm demeanor and dry wit.

"Anything exciting going on back home?" Maggie chuckled, pulling her jacket over her shoulders.

Nick exhaled heavily, a giddy smile finding its way onto his face. "Tash is pregnant"

Excited exclamations left nearly everyone's mouth. JJ's jaw had dropped, her face lighting up with joy for her coach. Even as she jumped up however, Aimee was the first to get to him, pulling him into a congratulatory hug.

"I'm gonna be a dad!" he gushed, the news seeming to sink in now that he had said it out loud.

"You're going to be wonderful," Aimee said happily, tears in her eyes as she watched the joy lighting up her friend's face.

As she pulled away, JJ dove straight in, flinging her arms around Nick's midsection in a tight hug as he wrapped her up and gave her a squeeze.

"Congratulations Nick… that's amazing news," she said sincerely as they broke apart.

"Thanks kiddo," Nick beamed. "At least I've had years of practice with you, hey?"

"I'll teach mini Nick how best to give you hell, don't you worry," JJ said with a cheeky grin, making the others laugh.

"Of course you will," Nick laughed, turning to accept another hug from Maggie, and then Marta, before Laurent and Mihai approached to shake his hand.

Their bus ride back to the Village was buzzing with a new kind of energy after that. Nick hadn't been able to wipe the smile off his face, his eyes growing bright every so often as the thought of his unborn child crossed his mind. Seeing him so thrilled was truly warming JJ's heart; it seemed happiness was the medicine for her lingering sadness.

She still missed her dad terribly. And every time his face entered her mind, it sent a horrible stab of sadness into her heart.

But she was here, at the pinnacle of her sport. And hell would freeze over before she'd let her team, her country… or her dad down.


	118. Chapter 118

**A/N: AHHH I've had Rio planned since I started this story, I'm SO EXCITED!**

* * *

Podium training was done and dusted, qualifications lineups were decided, and it was now the morning of the opening ceremony; August 5th, 2016.

The Olympics had finally arrived.

JJ had expected to wake that morning to an atmosphere of excitement and anticipation. What she hadn't expected to awake to was Simone perched on the edge of her bed with her face pressed up against the glass of the window.

"Uh…," JJ mumbled, rubbing her eyes in the bright sunlight. "What are you doing?"

"There's a chicken," Simone said flatly, her gaze never faltering.

"A chicken?" JJ asked, yawning as she pushed herself up onto her elbows. Over to the right, Aly groaned, pulling her pillow over her head.

"There's a chicken on the balcony," Simone said matter-of-factly.

"What do you mean there's a chicken on the balcony?" JJ asked as she sat up properly, her brain swimming in a haze of sleepy fog.

Without a word, Simone reached over and grabbed JJ's arm, pulling her up beside her with surprising strength. Taking a moment to focus in the now blaring sunlight, JJ peered through the window.

"What the…," she said in disbelief as her eyes finally fell on a scraggly looking chicken wandering around on the balcony. "How did it get up here?"

"I don't know," Simone giggled. "I bet someone did it as a prank"

"How the hell would they get a chicken into the Olympic Village?" JJ laughed.

"Who knows, it's Rio, anything's possible!" Simone exclaimed.

"Guys," Aly mumbled from beneath her pillow. "It's stupid o'clock in the morning"

"It's actually seven thirty, but you were close," JJ said with a smirk. Seconds later, Aly's pillow came flying across the room, hitting JJ square in the head and knocking her off her bed. Simone broke into hysterical laughter, almost falling off the bed herself as Laurie came wandering into the room.

"Marta wants us up and ready for training in half an hour," she said, breaking into a grin as she took in the scene before her; a disgruntled Aly buried under her covers, Simone laughing hysterically on the end of JJ's bed, and JJ sitting on the floor on the other side of her bed trying not to laugh.

"Laurie, there's a chicken!" Simone suddenly exclaimed, pointing to the window. At that moment, the chicken decided to try and fly, letting out a loud SQUAWK before crashing into the window, making the girls scream as they all ducked down.

"What on earth is going on in here?" came Aimee's bewildered voice ahead of her entering the room. She was followed by Madison, who slipped past her and jumped onto the end of Aly's bed with a grin.

"There's a chicken on the balcony, we don't know why or how it got there, but it's there!" Simone cried, pointing at the window.

Confused, Aimee walked forward. When she saw the feathers, and the befuddled chicken wandering around outside, she started to laugh.

"Oh man," she chuckled, turning back to the door and shaking her head. "I love Rio"

* * *

 _ **How did the US girls look in podium? Who's doing the all-around, Aly or Laurie?**_

 _They looked fantastic as usual! Everyone was completely on, which was surprising to me to be honest, especially for JJ; we haven't seen her since Trials, and I guess I kind of expected her to be a bit more of a mess with what she's been through, but no, she proved her place on the team._

 _As for the all-around, it's going to be Aly. All five girls did every event in PT, and the girl who wasn't competing it at all in competition went last. Obviously that was Maddie for everything but bars, and on bars, it was Laurie. She's apparently had a minor nagging injury, and they decided doing the all-around would be too much. She's fine, don't panic, but Aly is competing AA in qualifications with JJ and Simone._

 _ **Do we know the team final lineups for the USA?**_

 _Judging from PT, I'm pretty sure this is their lineup:_

 _VT: Raisman, Jareau, Biles  
UB: Biles, Jareau, Kocian  
BB: Hernandez, Biles, Jareau  
FX: Hernandez, Raisman, Biles_

 _Kind of surprising that they're having Simone do bars in the team final by the looks of it, but if Laurie's injury prevents her doing bars well, Simone is the only other option really. The other surprising thing is that they're not using JJ on floor, especially considering she's better on floor now than she was in 2012. If she competed the routine she did on night two of Trials, she would score about half a point higher than Laurie, but maybe having her do the AA as well is too much? I'm not sure. They have room to play with the lineups without losing the gold, so it's not really a big deal anyway._

* * *

The opening ceremony was completely underway. The Parade of Nations had brought tears to their eyes; even though the Brazilian crowd had cheered loud and proud for their athletes, the Refugee Olympic Team had received the biggest cheer of all.

The girls watched, huddled in the common area of their apartment, as the Olympic Flame was lit, signaling the official start of the Games. Laurie was wiping away tears as JJ gave her a tight squeeze.

It had been the longest four years of JJ's life, but finally, the Games had arrived, and she was ready to go. She was incredibly grateful that she had made it this far.

And now she was ready to have the most amazing two weeks of her life.

She only hoped that, somewhere up there, her dad was looking down on her, beaming with pride.


	119. Chapter 119

**A/N: I'm so fucking excited to write this, oh my god.**

* * *

The lights were dazzling, but her heart was pumping with excitement.

Four long years after she had graced the floor in London, here she was, about to take the Olympic stage again.

They looked incredible under the lights of the competition arena, dressed in the navy and red leotard adorned with two different patterns of crystals. JJ had slicked her long blonde hair back into a high ponytail, before braiding the lengths and wrapping them into a bun and securing them with a red hair bow. She had sent Will a Snapchat that morning of her hair, and his simple reply of 'you look beautiful as always' had given her an amazing confidence boost.

" _So the United States will start on floor exercise, and they will be starting with the reigning silver medalist on this piece, Jennifer Jareau. The fact that she's going first of the four actually means they aren't intending to use her routine in the team final… which is confusing to say the least, because she has outscored Laurie Hernandez on floor at every meet this season. But what can I say, Marta Karolyi has her reasons!"_

Over the past few days, talk had been swirling online of her potential to come home with six Olympic medals from Rio; a feat that would be a first for an American gymnast. She knew she could qualify into every event final, but one of them was dependent on another factor; if she wanted to outscore Aly to make the floor final, she was going to have to do the 6.7 routine she had been aiming for all summer. The problem was, she hadn't actually achieved it in competition. The closest she had come was the second night of Olympic Trials, when she had done everything she intended except for the whip into her double Arabian.

But, that didn't really matter. Because to her, it seemed like the gymnastics community cared more about her winning six medals than she did. All morning, she had been mulling it over in her head, until she'd reached a silent decision; she was going to do her 6.2 routine, omitting both the connections in her third line, and the Moors.

Because she knew that in the end, that floor medal was going to mean a hell of a lot more to Aly than it was to her. By giving Aly the half a point advantage, she was almost certainly going to be two per countried out of the final.

"On floor, representing the United States of America, Jennifer Jareau!"

Saluting as the crowd cheered, JJ stepped out onto the floor and took up her starting pose.

"Let's go JJ, you got it!"

Her music started, the booming Celtic sounds filling her ears. She swung her arms through the opening choreography, stepping back into the corner to line up for the first pass.

The run and the hurdle felt strong, and seconds later, she was soaring through a clean double layout.

"What?" Nick muttered, frowning in confusion as he watched his athlete continue the routine. Why she hadn't gone for the harder routine, he had no idea… but given the month she had had, he wasn't really going to question it. JJ knew herself and her own capabilities. Clearly, she had made a decision based on her own insight, and that was a trait of hers that Nick was always proud of.

" _That was odd… that's supposed to be a Moors, a double twisting double layout"_

" _Probably just decided to play it a little safe in the qualifying round, since the Moors is such a big skill"_

She tumbled seamlessly across the floor for her second run, relaxing fully into the routine and the music. There was a mildly painful tug in her chest as the bagpipes boomed across the arena; as little known as her father's Scottish heritage was, he had always been proud of it. Hearing the music, knowing he wasn't watching for the first time… it made it all that much stronger in her heart.

By the time she'd completed the routine to the applause of the excited Brazilian audience, she was feeling a little heady, even a little overwhelmed. But just moments later, that feeling disappeared as she descended the stairs and walked straight into Aly and Simone's embrace.

One down. Four to go.

It wasn't too much later before Laurie and Simone had both completed their routines, with just Aly left to anchor the team. Both the younger girls had come down the stairs, excitedly proclaiming to each other, "you're officially an Olympian!"

JJ smiled. Their energy, enthusiasm, and overriding joy was infectious to say the least.

* * *

JJ and Simone had gone first on vault in the second rotation, as they were both attempting to qualify for the vault finals. The entire team had been strong, solid, and clean, as was expected of them.

Moving around to bars, Aly started them off with a consistent bars routine. Consistent was always about the nicest way to describe her bars; she certainly wasn't the most naturally gifted on the apparatus, but all the girls gave her serious props for the improvements she _had_ made in the last few years.

Simone and JJ both followed, delivering strong routines that kept them solidified as two of the strongest all-arounders in the competition. Madison had followed, performing an outstanding routine that put her ahead of the reigning Olympic Champion, Aliya Mustafina, into the bars final.

Then it was time to close their competition on beam. Aly led off again, her consistency and cool head under pressure leading the USA into an exceptionally strong beam rotation.

Laurie, despite her youth and inexperience, had performed like a complete pro up there on the nerviest event. However, when her score was passed by Simone just minutes later, she knew her bid for event finals was over unless JJ fell from the beam, which, given JJ's track record, was incredibly unlikely.

And unlikely it remained, with JJ nailing the crap out of her routine to contribute one last fantastic score towards the USA's team total. As she had turned and left the podium, she had spotted her family sitting in the block just above the beam. Feeling more confident and bubblier than she'd felt in days, she'd blown them a kiss before leaving the podium to rejoin her team.

A few hours later, the final qualification subdivision had finished, and the final standings were in.

The USA had qualified a staggering 11 points ahead of second place China into the team final. Simone was leading the pack in the all-around, with JJ not too far behind her. Aly had finished third in the all-around standings, but once again, she had been two per countried out of the final. Simone and JJ were also leading the standings on vault, showing that the USA was already lined up for a possible five medals out of three finals.

The question mark that had hovered over JJ's ability to make the bars final had been erased completely; she may have qualified seventh, but she had qualified regardless, and would be joining Madison in the bars final the following Sunday.

Beam was arguably JJ's to lose, even with Simone nipping at her heels in the standings. And sure enough, JJ's decision over floor had had the desired result; Aly had knocked her out of the final, and would have the chance to defend her Olympic title, as unlikely as it was that she actually would.

Now, it was time to go out and fight for the medals.


	120. Chapter 120

**A/N: EEEEK I CAN'T WAIT FOR YOU ALL TO FIND OUT MY PLAN!**

* * *

Waking up in the dark hours of Monday morning feeling sick to her stomach was not how JJ had wanted her week of finals to start. The air felt stiflingly warm in the room, the sticky warmth of the air in Rio seeming to seep in everywhere it could reach.

Her sheets were tangled around her legs, which immediately served to irritate her. Kicking her feet, she tried to disentangle herself, but all she seemed to be managing was making it worse, which was only making the bubbling frustration in her stomach worse.

Seemingly out of the blue, she burst into tears. Not wanting to wake Aly and cause a fuss, she rolled over onto her stomach, forgetting about the sheets as she buried her face in her pillow to muffle her sobs.

The entire month, she'd been holding up a brave face. With the girls, it was easier to laugh and smile and genuinely enjoy the experience with them. But on her own, it was so much harder when the sadness started to creep back in and the tears threatened to overwhelm her. No-one had told her that grief was going to be confusing, that it would be messy, that some days she would wake up and every part of her body would ache. Even right now, after the high that always came from competing, her chest, neck, and head were all hurting, along with the nausea swirling in her stomach.

All she wanted, more than anything in the world, was for her dad to hug her and tell her everything would be ok.

But the reason he couldn't was the same reason everything wasn't ok.

Lifting her face just enough to be able to see her phone on the bedside table, she pressed the home button, illuminating the display. Her eyes were blurred with tears, and she already felt lightheaded, but still she managed to make out the numbers swimming before her eyes.

 _3:13_

What she wanted to do was call Will. Somehow, he always knew what to say to calm her down… but she knew she'd feel bad dragging him from his sleep.

Finally pulling her legs free from the sheets, she slowly climbed out of the bed, wiping her eyes on the back of her hand. Grabbing her sweatshirt from the end of the bed, she tugged it on, pocketed her phone, and silently slipped out of the room, leaving Aly sleeping peacefully behind her.

She crept through the common areas of the apartment until she reached the sliding door that led to the balcony. Gritting her teeth as she slid it open as quietly as she could, she slipped out into the night air and pulled it closed behind her.

The air was cooler out there than it was inside. Taking a deep breath, she sank into one of the chairs, staring out peacefully at the night sky.

She still wanted to call Will. She knew he wouldn't mind, having promised her he was always there for her no matter the time of day, but she didn't really want to wake him up.

She debated this back and forth in her mind for a further five minutes, before deciding to bite the bullet.

Calling his number, she lifted her phone to her ear, pulling her knees up to her chest as she did.

" _Hello?"_ came his groggy voice after what felt like forever.

"Hey, it's me," she said softly, chewing lightly on the thumbnail of her free hand. "I'm sorry for waking you up"

Will yawned on the other end. She listened as he seemed to shuffle across the room, before she heard the unmistakable sound of a sliding door.

" _I know you wouldn't call at this time unless somethin' was bothering you,"_ he said sleepily. _"What's goin' on babe?"_

"Having a rough night," JJ replied quietly, resting her chin on her knees.

" _Missing your dad?"_

"Yeah," she choked out, her voice catching in her throat as her eyes welled with tears again.

" _You know you're allowed to be upset about that,"_ Will said gently. _"You've been through a hell of a lot the last two years… you're allowed to have bad nights"_

"I know," she said, somewhat tearfully. "It's just… I felt like I was doing ok… like I could do this… and then yesterday, when I got up to do floor, I was so painfully aware of the fact that for the first time… my dad wasn't watching… I know people mean well when they tell me he's still watching over me… but it's just not the same"

" _I know babe,"_ Will said sadly.

"I just… I don't know if I can do this anymore"

Her voice sounded so feeble and so broken that she hated it, but the tears were already dripping down her cheeks again.

" _It kills me that you're hurting, JJ, it really does. I know it's natural, and it's part of the grieving process, but I wish I could just pull you into my arms and take all that pain away"_

"I wish you could do that too," JJ whispered.

" _I may not know what to say to help you… but I'll tell you what I do know. I know that you've worked your entire life and then some to be here right now. You're the girl who came home from London having already decided you wanted to go to Rio, and you're the girl who has defied all the odds to survive this quad and make this team. I know that even on your worst days, when you're sure you just can't go on… you've dug deep down and found that little extra to help you"_

JJ sniffed, wiping her eyes hastily. Words couldn't fix everything, but the sound of Will's voice was at least helping her to calm down.

" _If I know you at all JJ, you'll go out there with your team tomorrow and kill it. But you know something? Even if you went out there, found it too overwhelming, and fell all over the place… we would still be so proud of you"_

"No, you wouldn't," JJ rebutted.

" _Yeah babe, we would. You know why? Because even with all this awful stuff you've experienced, you still would've gone out and tried. Nothing speaks more volumes than going out and giving it your best"_

"I just want my dad," JJ said in a small voice. She knew Will meant well, but she felt as though no-one had better been able to calm her down than her father.

" _I'm sorry beautiful,"_ Will said softly. _"You're the strongest person I know… and I know that regardless of how the next week goes, your dad will always be so proud of you"_

Swallowing thickly, JJ wiped away her remaining tears with the sleeve of her shirt.

" _I think you ought to go get some sleep babe"_

JJ sniffed, a smile finding its way onto her face.

"I love you," she said softly.

" _I love you too JJ. Don't you go caving on me now,"_ Will chuckled. _"Go get some sleep, and I'll talk to you later"_

Feeling a little more relaxed, JJ bid her goodbyes before ending the call.

Running a hand through her hair, she turned and gazed out across the open grounds of the Village. It was quiet, peaceful. All the athletes were clearly fast asleep, resting up for a day's competition ahead of them.

The scrape of the glass door made her jump, whirling around to see Aimee poking her head out the door.

"What are you doing up?" Aimee asked gently, a look of concern on her face.

Getting to her feet, JJ managed a small smile. "Had a bit of a rough night… I was just talking to Will"

Aimee smiled, stepping back as JJ made her way back into the apartment. "Feeling any better?"

JJ nodded slowly. "Actually… yeah. A bit"

With a reassuring smile, Aimee wrapped an arm around JJ's shoulders, giving her a comforting squeeze.

"Go on, get back to bed," she chuckled as she pulled away.

Still smiling, JJ headed back to her room. Moments later, she was crawling under the covers, curling into a tight ball.

Maybe it wasn't all fixed. But it was certainly better.


	121. Chapter 121

**A/N: This chapter is absolutely fucking huge, I'm not joking, it's like 15 pages long. I normally would include a skill guide in a chapter like this, but so many skills were mentioned and I'm not sure which ones I've done before, so if you want clarification on what a skill is, let me know and I'll be more than happy to clear it up for you!**

* * *

" _It is one of the most in demand events at the Olympics, and it could be historic! In 1996, there was a Magnificent Seven. In 2012, a Fierce Five. This group will make a name for themselves tonight, one way or the other. The United States has never gone back to back in the women's team final. We welcome you to the Olympic Arena. This group not only beats the competition in qualifying, they obliterated everybody by over eleven points. But tonight, at least in the beginning, everybody is at zero. The expectation is enormous, the pressure as well, as Marta Karolyi will say goodbye to USA Gymnastics after these Olympic Games. Since taking over at Athens 2004, she has created a behemoth of success, and if there's one thing we know, it's that this team is prepared for what they face tonight. Now, three gymnasts go on all four apparatus, and all the scores count"_

Standing beneath the dazzling lights, the girls stood ready for their presentation to the crowd, looking down into the faces of the judges who were to decide their fate. Dressed in the navy shouldered white and red ombre leotard that called back to the Magnificent Seven from 20 years ago, they looked and felt like they were ready to win.

"On vault, representing the United States of America…"

" _Let's meet Team USA! A returning Olympian. Three medals in London, of Needham, Massachussetts, Aly Raisman!"_

"Alexandra Raisman!"

Beaming, Aly stepped forward and waved as the crowd gave a rousing cheer. The energy here was different to London, JJ felt. More… excited, almost like the whole thing was a big party.

" _Also a returning Olympian, a staggering FIVE medals in London, from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, better known as just JJ, Jennifer Jareau!"_

"Jennifer Jareau!"

JJ stepped forward, a big smile gracing her face as the crowd cheered even louder for her. For a fleeting moment, she wondered if what had happened to her father was something known to the worldwide gymnastics community and beyond. It certainly sounded like an encouraging and supportive applause.

" _Next to her, the greatest in the world, a three time champion from Spring, Texas, Simone Biles"_

"Simone Biles!"

JJ wasn't surprised at all when Simone got the loudest cheer of the three. Surely everyone knew Simone by now. She was, after all, just two days away from her final coronation.

" _16 years old, from Old Bridge, New Jersey, Laurie Hernandez!"_

"Lauren Hernandez!"

Laurie had the smile of a child who'd been told Christmas was coming early as she gave a generous wave to the cheering crowd.

" _And finally, also from Texas, in Dallas, Madison Kocian, from the same gym that gave us Carly Patterson, and Nastia Liukin"_

"Madison Kocian!"

Madison was a little more subdued as she waved, still smiling, however. Her quiet nature even in the loudness of an Olympic setting was something that JJ quite honestly admired.

"Representing People's Republic of China… Mao Yi! Tan Jiaxin! Wang Yan! Shang Chunsong! And Fan Yilin!"

"Already feeling a serious nap coming on," Aly muttered to JJ as the Chinese girls finished waving to the audience. JJ snorted, stifling a laugh with the back of her tiger paw; only Aly could feel like a nap at the beginning of an Olympic final.

"On uneven bars, representing the Russian Federation… Angelina Melnikova! Daria Spiridonova! Seda Tutkhalyan!"

JJ frowned as the Russians stepped up out of order. Had the Rodionenkos, the Russian team coordinators, done something kooky and pulled the Olympic Champion from their bars lineup? Surely not.

"Aliya Mustafina! And Maria Paseka!"

"How long does this bit normally take?" Simone asked quietly as she leaned toward JJ. "I wanna run"

JJ chuckled. "Not long. I swear you have ants in your pants"

"I do"

JJ fought back more laughter. After the day she'd had before, she'd woken up feeling less than cheerful, but thankfully, the girls had been wonderful at cheering her up and keeping her mind focused on the final.

"Representing Great Britain… Ruby Harrold! Elissa Downie! Rebecca Downie! Amy Tinkler! And Claudia Fragapane!"

Up in the stands, JJ's personal cheer squad had surprisingly found themselves seated in the same block as Marta Karolyi, the alternates, and the rest of the Team USA staff. In the next block over, Sandy had spotted the Raismans, sitting in nervous anticipation.

They were just a few rows back, with a clear view of the entire arena. Will's dad was impatiently jiggling his leg, clearly wanting the competition to get underway.

"Dad, you're as bad as Simone," Will chuckled, reaching out to steady his father's fidgeting.

"On the balance beam, representing Brazil… Daniele Hypolito! Jade Barbosa! Flavia Saraiva! Lorrane Oliveira! And Rebeca Andrade!"

The cheer for the Brazilian girls was absolutely electrifying. JJ hoped the home crowd energy would help them to have an amazing final.

"Representing Germany… Elisabeth Seitz! Tabea Alt! Pauline Schafer! Kim Bui! And Sophie Scheder!"

One more apparatus. They were almost ready for warm-ups.

"On floor exercise, representing Japan… Aiko Sugihara! Mai Murakami! Sae Miyakawa! Asuka Teramoto! And Yuki Uchiyama!"

Nearly there.

"Representing Netherlands… Lieke Wevers! Celine van Gerner! Eythora Thorsdottir! Vera van Pol! And Sanne Wevers!"

Immediately afterwards, the chimes sounded to signal the start of the warm up for the first half of the rotation. Laurie and Madison quickly followed the Chinese team off the podium, while Mihai and Aimee quickly ascended to get the board ready for the girls.

The warmup seemed to speed by, and before too long, JJ was waiting by the steps for Aly to complete her vault.

"You got it Aly, let's go!" she called encouragingly as Aly saluted the judges.

Wasting no time, Aly took off, powering down the runway towards the table. Her entry was solid, and her repulsion from the vault was strong.

Even better was the landing, nailed to the floor with only a hop to bring her feet together as she lifted her arms into the air. The applause was incredible, and JJ could hear Laurie and Simone yelling and cheering just down to her right.

Once Aly was down at the other end, JJ headed up the steps and out onto the lime green podium to await her green light.

" _Now, if you haven't tuned in for gymnastics since the last Olympics in London, you might just recognize this young lady. She was a part of that historic gold medal winning team, and she also netted herself a further four medals; gold on the beam, silver on floor, and bronze in both the all-around and uneven bars. She has grown quite a bit since London, not so much in height, but definitely in character and confidence, and her gymnastics is just incredible to watch now. Four years ago, we wouldn't have picked her as one of the best all-arounders in the world, but she has firmly cemented herself as the best behind Simone Biles since then. How great do you think it is that she's here tonight, Nastia?"_

" _Oh, I think it's incredible, I mean, what Aly has done is amazing as well, but for JJ to not really take a break after London, dive straight back in, and actually get better rather than tiring out, well… that's almost unheard of! But she's had a pretty rough year, what with her dad passing away the day after the Olympic team was named, so it's actually just really nice to see her up there, looking confident, smiling, and enjoying this moment with her team, I think she's very brave"_

Her green light flashed, prompting her to immediately swing her arms into a salute. Adjusting her wrist guards once more, she lined herself up with the coloured marker at the end of the runway.

Springing off the balls of her feet, she took off into a powerful run, spurred on by the cheers and screams of her teammates. Her roundoff onto the springboard led into a powerful block from the table. She seemed to hover for a moment, waiting for the second when her hands would completely clear the table, before wrapping into two and half tight, clean twists.

She found her feet beneath her to rapturous applause, and couldn't help her smile as she turned and acknowledged the judges.

" _Wow! That was seriously great!"_

As great as her vault was, it had nothing on the greatness of Simone, who just minutes later, rocketed up into the air like the table was a launch pad, before landing with one hop to steady herself. And just like that, the USA had completed the first part of their bid for a back to back gold medal.

* * *

"Let's go Simone!"

As her younger teammate mounted the bars and kipped up to a tight handstand, JJ was watching on somewhat anxiously.

First came a Weiler kip. Almost straightaway, Simone balked as she was coming back up into handstand, but she just as quickly muscled it back into her control.

"Nice!"

After that, the rest of the routine was a breeze for the young Texan, who sailed it all the way through to a stuck landing on the dismount, her smile as bright as the lights as she saluted.

Because she was next, JJ didn't have a lot of time to celebrate Simone's solid routine, but she had just enough time to give her a quick hug, accompanied by a high five before she made her way up the podium.

Due to the rule that only two coaches were allowed on the floor at any one time during the team final, and one of them had to be a woman, JJ had gone through vault, and now bars, without Nick. Aimee was the one helping her prepare the bars for her routine, while Laurent was coaching Madison through her preparation down on the sidelines. After bars, Laurent would retreat to the holding area, allowing Maggie out to help Laurie through beam. Once Laurie's routine was done, Nick would finally take the floor to be there for JJ's beam routine.

Sandy watched on nervously as JJ saluted the judges. Of all the things JJ did in gymnastics, it was always bars that made her the most nervous. It was, after all, the event where she had had the nastiest falls in a competition setting. Shuddering as she thought back to the previous year when she'd almost broken her nose on the high bar, she quickly shook it off.

" _Now, JJ used to be considered weak on the uneven bars, but she's actually not so anymore… let's see what she can do here"_

Taking a deep breath to settle herself, JJ habitually adjusted her grips once more before setting her feet together, swinging down, and jumping into her glide kip to mount the bar.

"Come on girl, you got it!" came Simone's voice from the sidelines as she worked her way through her Shaposh transition to the high bar.

"Catch it! Nice!"

Next, her toe on full. By now, the crowd was ramping up for the Brazilians on floor, and she had to keep a clear head.

Her momentum carried her into the downswing, a stalder swing, and the upwards over the bar.

"Push it! Yeah!"

Catching the piked Tkatchev, she connected it straight into her Pak salto, following it up with an immediate stalder swing. It was here she had her first minor break, a slight loss of momentum as she muscled her way back to the top of the bar. One and half pirouettes, a little late to finish, shooting to the high bar.

" _She'll get a few small deductions there, that cast was a little muscly, and then she kind of fell out of that pirouette, but nothing too major"_

Half turn... front giant... half turn into stalder with a full turn... giant swing...

With a satisfying _ping_ from the high bar, she flicked off into a soaring full twisting double layout, landing it easily on her feet without so much as a flicker on the landing, sending the arena into a tumultuous uproar.

" _She has gotten SO good on bars, unbelievable, that was AMAZING!"_

Beaming from ear to ear, she grabbed her spray bottle from the chalk bucket, before heading to the steps where she was promptly ambushed in a hug by Aly, Laurie, and Simone.

"That was so good, you're so good!" Simone shrieked, making JJ laugh as she hugged them all in return. Over Aly's shoulder, Aimee gave JJ a thumbs up and a grin, before turning to cheer on Maddie as she prepared to start her routine.

Immediately turning their attention back to their teammate, they cheered as she mounted the apparatus to start the routine. As one of the four reigning World Champions from the previous year, they knew it was going to be a good routine.

Somewhere up in the stands, Cindy Kocian had risen from her seat, leaving her husband and son alone in their seats as she made her way back up the stairs. She stood by the door to exit the arena, unable to bring her eyes towards the apparatus on which her daughter was about to take the stage. She could hardly watch Madison compete live; it was too nerve wracking.

"Come on Maddie!" JJ yelled encouragingly, absently unbuckling her own grips as Maddie swung out of her Chow half and up towards the next skill. Laurent moved into place to spot her through her Jaeger, which she inevitably did no problems, prompting her coach to clap proudly as he quickly walked away and left the podium.

" _Oh... gorgeous!"_

Triumphantly, Maddie flipped through her dismount.

" _Dismount, done in combination, FULL TWISTING DOUBLE!"_

She stuck it cold to the floor, sending the already riled crowd into an explosive applause.

"YEAH!" JJ and Aly cheered as Laurie let out an appreciative 'WOOP!'

" _Wow! That is why they put Madison Kocian on this team!"_

Running over to the edge of the podium as Maddie headed over towards them, Aly reached up, half lifting her teammate down. They were all smiling, knowing their competition was going incredibly well as they headed over to grab their bags. Bars and vault were always the first rotations to finish, so now they just had to wait for the remaining gymnasts to compete bars and floor, before they headed around to tackle the ever nervy balance beam.

And even more pressure packed was the fact that Marta Karolyi was sitting right in front of it.

* * *

The incredible thing about the depth of their team was that, even as the reigning bronze medallist on the piece, Aly was not competing beam in the team final.

Instead, she took up residence beside the podium, calling out encouragement to her young teammates as they warmed up. When Laurie took the stage just moments later, all it took was a look in Aly's direction, and a smile and nod from her team captain to help her stay calm, focused, and relaxed.

" _And now the effervescent Laurie Hernandez. A year ago, would you have said she'd be here?"_

" _Well, I... she was definitely on my radar, but there were a number of people that could have jumped into that spot"_

Saluting, Laurie looked down at the beam. Holding her hands just centimetres above the suede, she took a deep breath.

'I got this,' she mouthed to herself, before mounting the apparatus.

Down on the sidelines, JJ was focused on working her own routine. This was her last routine of the night, and she wanted to make it a good one. She'd happened to spot her family sitting a few rows behind Marta, and while normally that would have made her nervous, today, it helped her to calm down. Their love and support was like a strong burst of energy emanating from the crowd, and she was quietly glad they would experience what was hopefully a great routine front and center.

She listened as the cheers for Laurie faded into cheers for Simone, right as Nick finally rejoined her on the floor.

"How you feeling?" he asked warmly as they waited by the steps.

"Pretty good. Not too nervous," JJ replied truthfully. "My mom and everyone are sitting literally right up there"

Nick chuckled. "Don't do an Aly and look up mid routine and spot your mom"

JJ laughed. "Promise I won't"

" _Hahaha, what Nick is referring to... at the 2012 Nationals, Aly had a break in the middle of her routine, and afterwards, she said to her coach Mihai Brestyan that she looked up and saw her mom. Mihai's response was 'well don't look up next time'!"_

"You've done really well so far. Mihai and I have been watching from the holding area. Just remember to have fun out there, ok kiddo? You of all people could use some"

Smiling, JJ gave her coach a quick squeeze as Simone punched out an amazing dismount, like a full stop at the end of a wonderful sentence. Cheering for her teammate, she clapped as she ascended the podium, Nick just two steps behind her.

" _Next up is the reigning World and Olympic Champion... she holds FOUR consecutive World titles on this apparatus, and if you've never seen her on beam before, well, you're about to find out why she holds those titles. She's also qualified first into the beam final, Simone is nipping at her heels a little, but she did have a few pauses and a minor wobble in qualifying, so a clean routine could net her USA's first ever repeat event title at the Olympics!"_

" _But, Tim, let's focus on today. The beam final isn't until Monday"_

" _Right, of course"_

"What are you thinking?" Simone giggled, nudging Aly's side as the older girl gazed thoughtfully towards JJ.

"How we have barely gotten Rio underway and I already want nothing more than for JJ to win beam in Tokyo"

Simone laughed, leaning against the podium beside Aly as JJ prepped for her routine.

" _Alright, she's got a green light, let's see what she's going to contribute to their score"_

Acknowledging the judges, JJ took a deep breath as she narrowed her gaze down onto the beam.

With a carefully measured run, she punched off the springboard and into a pike front somersault, her feet landing securely on the end of the beam.

"Nice JJ, come on!"

Knowing she had enough room behind her, she swung immediately down into her standing Arabian, landing it only about half a foot from the end of the beam.

" _Phwoar, that was some serious confidence she had right there, she didn't even LOOK to see where she was standing!"_

Working rhythmically, she executed her Onodi, easily connecting it to two front aerials, amongst impressed applause. No hesitation followed before she took two steps into a front tuck, landing it once again, very close to the end. With a slight adjustment, she did her wolf jump; the jump was more out of habit, since she already knew it was a questionable connection from the second she had adjusted her feet.

Now the most impressive part.

"I don't think I can look," Will moaned, half burying his face in his hands. Beside him, Sandy was doing the exact same thing; she wanted to close her eyes, but she also couldn't look away.

Flip, flip, layout full, done almost completely stretched out, and with only a tiny step back to steady herself.

" _That is my favourite skill ever that she does, she's just so good at it!"_

The hardest part was over. She almost dared to smile through her leap series, and her turn, but she kept her game face on to the very end.

" _Even Simone can't match how well JJ does this dismount"_

She was tumbling seamlessly across the beam.

" _Watch the punch off the end!"_

She felt as though she was flying, the dismount coming so easily that she found her feet on the ground without even a twitch of movement. The uproarious applause that erupted from the block immediately to her left made her laugh as she saluted the judges and left the podium.

"So proud of you!" Aly gushed, throwing her arms around her friend as they all clamoured to hug her.

" _Well, Jennifer Jareau certainly knows how to take a year of heartbreak and bad luck and turn it into something AMAZING, because that was one of the best beam routines I've seen her do!"_

" _Three events down, one to go, and it's looking like a shoo in for Team USA. They're already out in front, we just have to wait and see what floor holds for them"_

* * *

The atmosphere was a very different one to London as Laurie stood at the edge of the floor awaiting her turn to go.

Standing with Maddie and Simone, JJ already knew that as long as the three girls put their routines to their feet, they would win, and by a healthy margin at that. The nerves, the anxiety, the feeling that it was all going to fall out from under them that had consumed her in London, it just didn't exist today. Even so, she didn't really want to get too far ahead of herself; the girls still had to compete.

If they had had any remaining competition from China, it had disappeared with their second competitor on floor; Mao Yi had punched _way_ out of bounds and fallen on her first pass, taking whatever slim chance they thought they might have had for gold away, and opening the door for Russia to take their once previously guaranteed silver.

"On floor, representing the United States of America, Lauren Hernandez!"

" _So this will be Laurie's final appearance at the Olympic Games, unless JJ or Simone get injured before the beam final… you know, as wonderful as Laurie is on floor, I can't quite work out why Marta chose her routine over JJ's half a point stronger routine"_

" _Marta did actually say yesterday that JJ's had a couple of rough days since they arrived in Rio, and she doesn't want to add to the stress she's experiencing by having her compete the all-around three times in five days. Which is fair enough, and honestly, when you qualify by over eleven points to the final… you have room to play around. Half a point isn't that important from that perspective"_

Laurie's music filled the arena, seeming to bring the bubbly teenager to life as she pranced through her opening choreography. Maggie was down on the sidelines, watching with eagle eyes as Laurie took off into her opening tumbling pass, a speedy double layout.

"Nice Laurie, come on!" JJ called out, clapping encouragingly as she moved a little closer to the floor podium.

Her second pass, a double Arabian to stag jump, seemed to soar through the air, eliciting a huge cheer as she landed it easily in the corner. From there, the music became even more energetic, as did Laurie's choreography. Full of spunk and sass, she danced her way to the next corner, ready for her third line.

It was on Laurie's punch front at the end of the line that JJ nearly had a heart attack, even though a fall at this stage wouldn't have hurt them. Coming up somewhat short, there was a split second where it looked as though Laurie was going to fall, but through the training and the muscle power she had under her belt, she pulled it back up to her feet with no trouble.

By the time she landed her fourth line a few moments later, she was beaming, clearly enjoying and relishing everything the Olympic experience had to offer. With an energetic flourish, she struck her final pose, unable to wipe the smile off her face as she held it for a moment under excited applause.

" _I think they're running away with this gold medal"_

" _I'll tell you what, if you're not smiling right now, I just don't get it, my cheeks are sore right now!"_

As Laurie reached where they were standing, JJ broke into a half run, laughing as she threw her arms around her young teammate.

"It was so good, good job! It was awesome!" she gushed, making Laurie smile even bigger.

Aly was already waiting to go, calmly stretching as she waited for her signal.

" _You know your country is good on floor when the reigning Olympic Champion is going SECOND to last"_

"Come on Aly!" Will called out from the stands, followed by a cheer from Aly's brother over in the next block.

Laurie's score came up not too long after, a solid 14.833 to get the ball rolling on floor for Team USA.

"On floor exercise, representing the United States of America, Alexandra Raisman!"

With the carriage of a veteran competitor, Aly stepped out onto the floor after acknowledging the judges, and immediately took up her starting pose.

Her music started, shrill and elegant as she moved back into the corner.

And then she was off, the signature tumbling pass moving seamlessly across the floor. Whereas in London, she had omitted the punch front after missing it in warm-ups, this time, it was a country mile up in the air.

"Yeah Aly, come on!" Simone yelled as she and the girls watched from the sidelines.

The rest of the routine was so typically Aly, every tumble landed easily and cleanly on the floor. The music inspired the crowd to clap along, and by the time she was racing down the diagonal for her final pass, it seemed the entire arena was at her back.

"YEAH!" JJ yelled triumphantly. Simone had since disappeared, going to wait by the stairs seeing as she was last to go.

A flick of the wrist brought Aly into her final pose, a proud smile on her face as she straightened up and saluted the judges. Waving to the cheering crowd, she fought to catch her breath as she descended the stairs, high fiving Simone as she went.

"Ugh," she groaned, grinning as she reached her remaining teammates. "I'm tired"

JJ laughed, draping an arm around her shoulders.

"Your Arabian was so high," she chuckled.

"I know, I thought I was gonna go out of bounds, I was like EEE!" Aly exclaimed, inciting laughter in her team.

" _Who knows how many little girls right now wanna be Aly… or JJ, or Madison, or Simone, or Laurie?"_

" _I think they wanna be all of them!"_

" _It's inspirational stuff"_

"We've done amazing today, good job guys," Laurie said happily, patting JJ and Madison on the shoulders.

"You too," Madison said sweetly, smiling as she turned back to face the floor, where Simone was now waiting to go.

" _So it's a 15.366 for Aly Raisman… and… oh my god… hahaha… Simone Biles needs to score a HUGE 6.358 to clinch the gold medal for the USA"_

" _I think she'll double that for sure"_

" _I think she'll come closer to tripling it"_

"On floor, representing the United States of America… Simone Biles!"

After saluting, Simone practically skipped out onto the floor with a neat wave of her arm, taking up her starting pose with a smile larger than life itself.

And then, moments later, the final 90 seconds began.

Electric and exciting, Simone took the floor with ease, immediately captivating the entire arena with her Brazilian carnival themed routine and music.

As it thumped out of the loudspeakers with intensity unbeknownst to any of the other gymnasts, she seemed to launch across the floor into an easy full twisting double layout, landing it on her feet with a defiant THUNK to much applause.

"Come on Simone, you got it!" the girls cried, moving closer and closer to the podium the further through the routine she got.

She hopped, skipped, and jumped through her lively choreography, and then it was time for her signature skill; the Biles, usually accompanied by a sissone at the end.

But the sissone never came. Not a big deal either way.

Executing the arm choreography in the corner to match the sharpness of her music, Simone whipped around and did an easy front aerial (her loophole to fulfilling the tumbling requirement), before taking the floor for her wolf turn.

She seemed to lose control for a moment at the end, prompting JJ and Aly to yell out simultaneously.

"Reign it in Simone!"

But like the pro she was, she pulled it under control, jumping onto her knees with a look of feigned surprise as the music cried 'OH!'

Rising to her feet, she seemed to bounce through her leap series, finding her way into the corner before taking off into a double double that hardly used the full length of the diagonal.

"One more Simone, you got it!" Laurie called over JJ's shoulder.

Still smiling as was her custom, Simone found her way for the final pass. She zoomed right across the floor, landing her full in to rapturous applause. Down on the sidelines, the girls were already screaming and cheering.

They'd done it.

"OH!" Simone's music finished, with Simone in her signature end pose as half the arena got to their feet in excited applause.

The entirety of JJ and Aly's families had leapt to their feet in excitement the second Simone hit the floor for her final pose. Will's heart was racing; he'd watched the 2012 team final live on the TV… but nothing compared to this moment, watching his girlfriend and her best friends make history for their country. The energy in the arena was unbelievable.

" _Get the gold medals ready… AGAIN!"_

Their joy was uncontainable as they swarmed Simone at the base of the steps. Amongst the victorious applause, they hugged each other tightly, jumping up and down in excitement, for there was absolutely no question this time around that the Olympic gold medal was theirs yet again.

JJ had to laugh as Laurie, screaming with joy, grabbed Simone in a tight hug.

"You're not even out of breath!" Aly exclaimed as she pulled Simone from Laurie's grasp, making them all laugh.

"USA! USA! USA! USA!" came the patriotic cheers from the American supporters in the crowd.

Huddling together as the arena fell into a semi hush, Simone looked pointedly at Aly.

"When do we say the name?"

The name… to match the Magnificent Seven, and the Fierce Five. Ever since they had been named as the Olympic team, the five girls had mulled over what they wanted to call themselves. Simone had eventually come up with what they thought was the perfect name about halfway through camp, and together, they had decided to keep it a secret until the conclusion of the team final.

"After the score," Aly said, with all the sureness of a team leader.

They stood there, in a semi circle beneath the jumbotron, talking easily and calmly with each other as they waited for Simone's score.

" _Gee, what a difference from 2012, hey? I remember JJ saying she felt like she wanted to throw up waiting for Aly's score!"_

"So on one two three, we are the," Aly affirmed as they glanced between themselves and the scoreboard.

JJ's stomach was filled with butterflies, but whereas London's had been anxiety, these ones were pure unadulterated excitement. She looked across the arena, where she could see her family, and seeming to catch Will's eye, she gave them a small wave.

"Oh, come on!" Aly said jokingly in reference to Simone's pending score, making them all laugh again. "Let's move over here!"

"No wait, Aly, we have to get up here, we can see it here!" Laurie called as Aly started walking away from them. "See, right there!"

Looking up at the jumbotron, JJ felt incredibly impatient. Russia was still listed as being in first, and they were still listed as last. Why the judges had to take so long with the very last score, she'd never know.

"I'm so proud of all of you," Simone said as they got comfortable in a small group, despite being surrounded by almost every camera on the floor.

"Yeah, we killed it today!" Laurie exclaimed.

"You guys were awesome, so proud of how we did today," JJ said with a smile.

"Yeah, that was the like the best meet we could have had-"

Aly was cut off by the crowd starting to cheer again, and seconds later, they were jumping and screaming with joy once more.

 **RK - TOTAL**

 **1 – UNITED STATES – 186.130  
2 – RUSSIA – 176.688  
3 – CHINA – 176.003  
4 – JAPAN – 174.371  
5 – GREAT BRITAIN - 174.362  
6 – GERMANY – 173.672  
7 – NETHERLANDS – 172.447  
8 – BRAZIL – 172.087**

After hugging and cheering with the crowd, the girls all climbed up onto the vacant end of the vault podium, waving to the rapturous arena. Up in the stands, their families were cheering until their voices were hoarse.

" _There you have it, the United States takes gold by a staggering nine and a half points! Aly Raisman and Jennifer Jareau are now officially the first American gymnasts to go back to back gold in the Olympic team final!"_

"Here, over here!" Aly said, pointing to an NBC marked video camera. The girls made haste in running over and huddling around it in a semi circle. Throwing their hands into the middle, they grinned.

"On three," Aly said. "One… two… three…"

"WE ARE THE FINAL FIVE!"

* * *

" _Marta, we named ourselves for you… we're the Final Five!" Aly said to the emotional team coordinator who was now standing in the mixed zone, having run down immediately after the final score._

" _The Final Five!" she shrieked, covering her face with her hands as she tried to hide her tears._

 _JJ found herself feeling a little teary as she stood back with an arm around Laurie's shoulders. Marta had nurtured and grown their program into the well oiled machine it was today. Leaving it had to be the hardest thing she was going to do, but JJ knew she and the girls could always be proud of having given her a victorious send off._

Gentle Brazilian music played throughout the arena as the Russian team accepted their hard earned silver medals. As opposed to the London team, who had been so bitterly disappointed in silver, this Russian team was all smiles on the podium, which JJ found incredibly refreshing.

They were dressed in the smart red and navy tracksuit, paired with green Nike sneakers, very similar to the ones they had worn in 2012. Even though thoughts of her dad had started to creep in, and she wished terribly that he was there, she couldn't fight away the smile on her face. They'd really done it. No matter how many times she had accepted an Olympic medal… she was about to accept one again.

"Gold medalists... and Olympic Champions!"

"Medalhistas de ouro ... e campeões olímpicos!"

"Médaillés d'or ... et champions olympiques!"

"United States of America!"

"Estados Unidos da America!"

Together, they stepped up onto the podium, waving as the crowd cheered ecstatically for the newly crowned Olympic team Champions.

The volunteer approached with the tray of gold medals, glinting beautifully under the lights of the arena. The IOC member presenting the medals approached, picking up the first one and turning to Simone, who beamed as she reached out to shake his hand.

"Well done, it was an incredible performance," he praised as he shook her hand, before lifting the green ribbon over her neck.

"Simone Biles!"

JJ was right next to Simone, who was now waving again to the cheers incited by her name, and the smile on her face seemed to be growing bigger as the older man lifted the next gold medal from the tray and turned back to her.

"You performed very well, congratulations," he praised, shaking her hand.

"Thank you," she said, beaming as she leaned forward to accept the golden prize.

"Jennifer Jareau!"

Turning and waving again to the crowd, she was filled with a sense of elation she couldn't describe. Looking down at the heavy gold disc hanging from her neck, she couldn't believe she really had done it again. It hadn't felt real when she'd finally made her second Olympic team, and it certainly didn't feel real now. But here it was.

The rest of the victory ceremony seemed to be a blur. She stood proudly with her teammates, one hand on her heart as their flag was raised to the sound of the national anthem. Deep down, a dull ache was building in her chest. She'd managed to fight it back throughout the final, because she had had the support and morale from her teammates to keep her spirits up.

From here on out though, it was individual. Every gymnast for themselves.

Later that evening, after a trip to NBC headquarters for an interview with Bob Costas, the girls finally returned to the comfort of their Olympic Village apartment. It felt like hours since they had left that morning. So much had happened.

Exhausted, and feeling like she was on the verge of teetering back into emotional territory, JJ had wrapped her medal up securely in one of her T-shirts, before tucking it into the bottom of her travelling backpack. They had been told they would receive wooden boxes for their medals in a few days, but for now, the t-shirt would have to do.

Even though it wasn't really that late by her own standards, she'd crawled into bed, Aly not too far behind her on the other side of the room.

And before her head had truly settled onto the pillow, she was fast asleep.


	122. Chapter 122

**A/N: Kinda rushed, I promise next chapter is going to be AMAZING!**

* * *

Warm sunlight brushed her skin, slowly rousing her from a deep and peaceful sleep.

Stretching her arms up, she blindly fumbled her way out from beneath the comforter. With a yawn, she rubbed her eyes, rolling over onto her stomach to get the sun out of her eyes as she started the slow process of waking properly.

"Morning sleeping beauty," Aly said with a grin from where she was sitting cross legged on her bed.

"Hey," JJ groaned, rubbing her face as she pushed herself up. "Why didn't anyone wake me up?"

"Marta was so touched by last night that she decided we could skip training this morning as long as we all take some time to condition. You looked pretty wrecked last night when we got back, so I thought I'd let you sleep," Aly said with a smile. "You slept for like ten hours"

"No kidding," JJ yawned as she sat up, reaching out for the bedside table and grabbing her glasses. "I'm surprised Simone didn't come running in to wake me up at half past five"

Aly laughed. "Oh trust me, she's been bouncing around for a couple of hours. I told her I'd pitch her medal over the balcony if she woke you up"

At that, JJ laughed, putting her glasses on. Her eyes had been hurting the previous evening due to her being tired, and she thought that giving them a bit of a rest in the morning by wearing her glasses would help.

"Deb's out there with the physio table set up if you're feeling like you need it"

Standing up, JJ groaned.

"Yeah, I think I need it," she grumbled as Aly laughed.

"Who's the grandma now?" Aly teased. JJ stuck out her tongue, before moving over to her backpack and pulling open the zip. Reaching in, she pulled out her medal, still securely wrapped in the t-shirt. Unwrapping it from the fabric, she discarded the shirt, allowing the ribbon to fall from around the medal.

"Six medals later and it still feels like a dream, hey?" Aly said with a smile.

"Something like that," JJ said softly, sitting down on the end of the bed, turning the medal over in her hands. "It's gorgeous"

"I think I was expecting them to look exactly like our medals from London… like, they're not that different, but they are at the same time," Aly mused. "They are really pretty though. I love the ribbons"

Turning to Aly, JJ smiled.

"You know," Aly started with a warm smile. "I know you don't wear your glasses when you're supposed to… but you should. They suit you"

JJ grinned. "Are you saying I should become the senior version of Morgi Hurd?"

Aly laughed. "Not quite, you can still see the beam and bars. Why don't you stop being a smartass when I give you a compliment and go get your physio?"

Chuckling, JJ wrapped her medal up once more, before ambling out of the room to have her stiff muscles worked on.

* * *

Afternoon training had bled into the evening. While Aly and Maddie had only trained their remaining competition routines (floor and vault respectively), and Laurie trained beam as the event backup, Simone and JJ had drilled an entire all-around set each, proving that they were strong and ready to take on the all-around final the following afternoon.

They had arrived back at the Village in time to grab some dinner, before heading upstairs to their complex for some much needed relaxation before bed. JJ and Simone had both spent some time picking out what they would wear for the final. Simone had decided on the blue bodied leotard with the athletic white and red stripes down the sides, while JJ had picked the blue ombre leotard with the red V around the neckline.

JJ was feeling cautiously optimistic. She knew if she landed on her feet tomorrow, she would make the podium.

What she also knew, however, was that tomorrow was August 11th.

Exactly a month since her dad had passed away.


	123. Chapter 123

**A/N: Sorry this took so long! It hasn't come out exactly how I wanted, but I'm still pretty happy with it!**

 **I'm absolutely heartbroken about Aly Raisman!**

* * *

Water beat down on her skin, scalding hot as she stood there, clutching herself beneath the shower head. She'd been standing there, motionless as the water turned her skin bright pink, for nearly ten minutes. Her mind was running a million miles a minute, but all of her thoughts were near enough the same.

Today was the eleventh of August. The day of the hotly anticipated all-around final. But more importantly, for JJ, it was exactly a month since her dad had passed away.

The grief had weighed more heavily on her from the moment she had opened her eyes, but today, she was determined to keep it together. She and Simone had a job to do. Maybe it wasn't the same job… but a job nonetheless.

After finally exiting the shower, JJ dressed ready for the day. The previous evening, she had picked out the blue and white ombre leotard with the bold red neckline. But that morning, it just hadn't felt like the right choice. After a few minutes of perusal, she eventually decided on the red crystal studded leotard, the one that happened to remind her of the one they had worn in London for the team final. It was so perfect, she even managed a small smile as she packed it into her bag. For now, she pulled on one of the training leos, covering it with her blue warm-ups. After packing her bag for the competition, she walked out into the main living area. It was quiet, with only Aimee to be heard in one of the other rooms, muttering to herself. JJ guessed everyone else must have gone

As she was about to turn and leave to head down for breakfast, something caught her eye out on the balcony. Turning, she was surprised to see Simone out there, dressed and ready to go as she gazed out across the Village courtyard.

Dropping her bag on one of the beanbags, JJ walked over and slowly pushed open the door.

"Hey," she said softly as she stepped out onto the balcony, sliding the door closed behind her. "You ok?"

Pulled from her reverie, Simone looked up at JJ, looking somewhat surprised. She immediately softened, an expression of sadness crossing into her eyes.

"It's been a month since your dad died... and you're asking me if I'm ok?"

"Yeah," JJ replied, ignoring the pain the mention of her dad had caused as she leant against the balcony railing. "Are you?"

Simone took a deep breath, looking down at her hands as JJ watched on patiently. It was some time before she finally spoke, having struggled to find the words she really needed to say.

"I'm... I'm scared I'm going to let them down," she said, so quietly that she almost sounded nothing like herself.

"Who?" JJ asked gently.

"Everyone," Simone replied, looking up to meet JJ's gaze.

In that moment, JJ suddenly realised just how much pressure Simone was under. Not just from her own expectations, but from those of the world too. For three years, Simone had been protected by a bubble. The bubble in which lived the world of gymnastics. Outside of the gymnastics community, barely anyone had known her name, and that had allowed her a relatively easy trail through the quad, with the only external pressure coming from fans of the sport. But now, it was the Olympic Games. A whole new ballgame, the one sporting event the world ground to a halt for. Simone's expected success had been drummed up by commentators worldwide, and now, even people who had never heard her name before were expecting her to win.

"Hey," JJ said reassuringly, reaching out and covering Simone's hand with hers. "Don't think about what the world wants from you. It's not their life, and it's not their dream. It's yours. The only expectations that matter today are yours"

Simone nodded slightly, her gaze falling back towards the buildings opposite their balcony.

"I feel like today is going to be a good day… but at the same time… I'm a little scared," she admitted.

JJ nodded, managing a small smile as she squeezed Simone's hand.

"That's totally understandable. But don't be scared… you're Simone Biles. You're going to do great"

* * *

The butterflies had been running rampant in her stomach all day. But after a successful training session, and a warmup in the back gym, JJ was feeling more confident, more prepared to take on the final. A good solid workout had helped shake away the rockiness of her morning, and despite the lingering weight on her shoulders, she was ready to go.

Right now, she stood waiting at the end of the runway, ready to get her competition off to a good start. A few of the jitters were still hanging around, but she hoped a solid vault would shake them off.

"Push hard off the table, tight through your shoulders, wrap in the twist. Feel for the landing. You got this kiddo," Nick called encouragingly from the sidelines. JJ nodded, adjusting her left wrist guard once more.

" _First of the two Americans, we've got Jennifer Jareau. She's had a hell of a year… she won the American Cup in March, then fell apart on night one of nationals, but restated her case for the team at Trials. Sadly, the night after the team was announced, her dad passed away after less than a year of battling cancer, so she's had a lot going on for her outside of gymnastics as well. Hopefully, after her stellar performance in the team final, she can put on a brilliant show here as well"_

Her green light flashed. Waiting a moment, she closed her eyes, taking a deep breath before she stepped out onto the runway.

"Come on JJ, let's go!" Will yelled out, clapping his hands together as he leaned forward somewhat nervously. Being seated in the same block as the Team USA cohort, Aly, Laurie, and Madison had all moved up to sit beside him in the cluster of seats surrounding the Jareaus. Aly was sitting beside him, chatting quietly with Laurie as she kept one eye on the competition.

Stepping back, JJ tapped her foot once, before taking off down the runway amidst the excited noise of the crowd.

She hurdled, turning onto the springboard and flipping back onto the table. Her repulsion was strong, tight, just like Nick had instructed her.

She knew she was still a little slow to wrap in the twist, and hence, she took a hop forward on the landing, but overall, it was still a great vault, and a great start to her competition.

" _Not a bad start! She can do better, and when you consider Simone will probably be a couple of tenths better than her, she might have been better off with a cleaner vault. However, she will make up ground over Simone on bars and beam. I actually think today could be a closer contest than usual"_

* * *

Simone had soared through vault as was expected, and by the time they entered the second rotation, she was _just_ in front of the pack by a tenth or so.

JJ had started off strong on the uneven bars. She'd found her rhythm early on and put it to good use, nailing one of her best sets for a 15.366. Simone had followed with a good, steady routine that had become the stock standard of the young Texan.

JJ had to remind herself not to watch the scoreboard as they moved around to beam. She was still calm and collected, and she wanted to keep her mind focused. Besides… she didn't need to watch the scoreboard to know Simone was going to win. Allowing herself a small smile at that thought, she continued to warm up for her pet apparatus.

Sometime later, she was up as the final competitor on beam. A heavy feeling had started to sink into her chest as the green light came on, but once again, she closed her eyes. Taking a deep breath, she forcefully pushed away the weight in her stomach, before turning and saluting the judges.

"Come on JJ, you got it," Aly muttered beneath her hands as JJ ran towards the springboard and punched into her mount. As her feet hit the beam, Will flinched, his hand moving towards Aly before quickly landing back in his lap.

She completed the standing Arabian without hesitation, following it up with her first flight series; Onodi, into two front aerials.

"Nice!" Aly called out as JJ finished the series with a wolf jump on the end.

"I feel sick," Will muttered. Aly laughed, patting his shoulder.

"Have a little more faith"

With a series of confident THUNKs, she punched out the hardest series, her layout full. Landing it almost completely upright, she nearly had a flicker of a grin on her face.

Just the little bits to go. Some choreography. A turn. Her leap series.

Before too much longer, she was readying for the dismount.

As the tone sounded to indicate ten seconds to dismount, she swung down into her flips.

Two flips later, she punched off the end of the beam, her full in dismount soaring higher than anyone could have guessed. Without so much as a flicker, she landed it easily on her feet, half daring to smile as she turned and acknowledged the judges.

She was nearly there.

* * *

As the final rotation wore on, with Rebeca Andrade of Brazil waiting to go as the third to last, JJ was starting to feel worse.

It wasn't the looming pressure of securing a medal. While medaling was always nice, JJ always made a point to simply aim for her best performances on any given day.

No, it was something else. And she was pretty sure she knew what it was.

Here she was, competing in her first all-around final that her dad wouldn't see. It hadn't even hit her until she had finished up on beam that as her dad's favourite competitive event to watch, for the first time, he wouldn't see it.

"You're doing really well kiddo. I'm really proud of you today," Nick said from behind her. As if he could read her mind, he wrapped her in a comforting squeeze, one that she immediately reciprocated.

"Hey," he said softly, recognizing immediately that she was feeling vulnerable. "What's up?"

"Just thinking about my dad," JJ said quietly as they pulled away, her bright eyes cast down towards the floor. "I wish he was here today"

"You're making him so proud," Nick said gently, tipping JJ's chin up with the tip of his finger. "I know that for sure"

Managing a small smile, JJ nodded, swallowing thickly to quell the lump in her throat that had suddenly risen.

She stayed in relative silence as Rebeca completed her routine, as the Brazilian crowd went crazy for their own gymnast. She'd done so well all day, keeping her composure… she was hardly going to let that change now.

" _All she has to do is land on her feet, and she's taking home a silver medal. Mustafina is going to have to do more in the future if she wants to get JJ beat, but at least this time, she's looking at a bronze almost certainly"_

Rebeca's score flashed up, garnering boos from the home crowd as JJ climbed the stairs to wait by the edge of the floor. Her green light was surely moments away.

" _The finishing touches on what has been a great night for Jennifer Jareau"_

But what felt like almost five minutes later, she was still standing there, waiting for her green light.

" _This is an unusually long wait"_

"Not sure what they're doing. Just keep calm. You've trained for this," Nick called encouragingly from behind her.

" _It's actually ridiculous, Andrade's score has been up for five minutes!"_

As much as she tried to breathe, it felt like the arena was getting smaller. The sounds of the crowd were getting louder, more obnoxious. Was everyone staring at her? Why hadn't they given her the green signal?

"Breathe JJ," came Nick's voice again.

Forcing herself to draw in a deep breath, JJ dug her fingernails into the palm of her hand, grounding herself, chasing away the anxiety.

She was ok. She was fine.

She was going to finish strong for her dad.

"On floor exercise, representing the United States of America... Jennifer Jareau!"

Finally.

Saluting the judges, she stepped out onto the carpeted floor and put herself into her starting position.

Her hands were shaking. Her mouth felt dry.

Her music began, booming through the arena.

And almost straightaway, she was paralysed with fear. Everything was too bright, too loud. The crowd seemed to be screaming. There was no air in the room. She couldn't make her lungs work.

It seemed like, in that moment, everything that had happened in the last year had come rushing back with a vengeance, threatening to overwhelm her at the ultimate moment.

She heard her cue come, but her muscles were frozen.

As it passed, the music changing with the beat, she had to force herself to move. Otherwise her timer was going to run down, and she would be deducted at best, disqualified at worst.

Finding some energy in her legs, she stepped back off the floor, her eyes wide and bright as her music died away and she turned to face Nick, who looked like he wanted to do nothing more than grab her and hug her.

"I can't do it," she said tearfully as the crowd started to cheer in an effort to encourage her back onto the floor. What was Marta going to say about this? "I can't"

"Yes you can," Nick said softly, reaching up and squeezing her hand. "I know you can JJ"

" _She's got 30 seconds to get back on the floor and start her routine, or she's going to be disqualified!"_

"What's going on?" Will asked, somewhat anxiously. Behind him, he knew JJ's mom was practically chewing off her fingertips out of worry.

"I don't know... she's never done this before," Aly muttered.

"Go out there and do what you've trained. I don't care if you make a mistake, ok? I just want you to feel like you did your best," Nick said gently. "But if you really want me to, I'll pull you now"

Pull her.

She shook her head, swallowing back tears. "No"

And with that, she turned around, taking one more deep breath before she saluted the judges again.

This time, she fought back all the emotion, focusing her eyes on the crowd directly in front of her as her music chimed in again.

When her cue came, she swung her arms down, starting the routine timer as she stepped back into the corner for her first tumbling pass.

Even in all the panic that had overwhelmed her, she knew what she was going to do.

Sprinting across the floor, she hurdled powerfully into her tumbling, before launching into a Moors that was so high, she had it completely around and almost totally upright when she hit the floor on the other side, the crowd practically screaming with excitement around her.

" _OH WOW!"_

" _I THOUGHT SHE WAS DOING A DOUBLE LAYOUT!"_

With one tumble under her belt, her game face was on for sure. Turning easily into her second, she launched a double double with an equal amount of power to the Moors, sticking it cold to the floor.

" _PHWOAR!"_

"Come on JJ!" Will yelled, his heart racing in his chest. "Come on!"

"You got it baby girl, come on!" Sandy shrieked just behind him, her eyes wide and excited as she watched her daughter dance across the floor.

" _If she does the connections in her third line that she's been aiming to have in, that means she'll be up half a point on her qualifying routine, and that COMPLETELY changes the game!"_

Deep breath.

Taking off, she hurdled, before flipping into a whipback, her hands clear off the floor. Feeling stronger than ever, she rebounded immediately into her double Arabian, connecting it straight into a stag jump.

"YES!" Aly screamed, leaping out of her seat as the crowd grew even more wild for JJ's routine. "Come on JJ, ONE MORE PASS!"

The rest of her choreo seemed to blur out into one, and before she knew it, she was in the corner, the music counting down to the final beat.

Mustering everything she had, she took off one last time, for what would be the last few seconds of floor she would perform at the Rio Olympic Games.

The second her feet hit the floor on her full-in, the crowd went nuts.

She couldn't help it.

She burst into tears.

Managing to swing her way down into her final pose, her face just centimetres from the carpet, they came like a torrential flood. Her music faded away to screaming applause as she brought a hand to her mouth, her body shaking terribly as she sobbed honestly and openly there on the floor. Relief, exhaustion, sadness, and exhilaration were coming through with the force of a freight train. Everything she had suppressed for a month was now out in the open for the world to see.

It felt like forever, but she finally managed to pull herself to her feet. The arena was nothing more than a lime green blur as tears drowned out her vision. Saluting in the direction of the judges table, she relaxed down, her shoulders slumping as she slowly made her way towards the stairs, sobs wracking her chest with more vigour than she'd ever felt before.

"I'm not gonna cry yet," Aly said defiantly through a sniff, getting a grin out of Will and a laugh out of Laurie. Just behind them, Sandy was wiping away tears of her own while Jason held her in a tight embrace, while the LaMontagnes clapped energetically and proudly for their son's girlfriend.

" _Such an emotional night for JJ, it's only been a month since her dad passed away and here she is, performing at an even higher standard than usual. She and her family should be incredibly proud"_

" _She's not usually one to be so emotional out there on the floor, but tonight, she's definitely earned those tears"_

"I got you," Nick said tearfully just moments later as he wrapped his arms around JJ and lifted her down from the edge of the podium. He didn't let go, instead simply enveloping JJ as she continued to cry. "I got you kiddo, let it out"

Tears of his own were running down his cheeks as he hugged her tight. He wished more than anything he could take away the pain he knew JJ was feeling, but he also knew, in the end, it had made her stronger than ever.

"I'm so... so proud of you," he whispered. "So proud of you, JJ, that was the bravest thing you've ever done"

" _It's been an incredibly emotional couple of weeks for these two. Nick should be very proud of both JJ and himself"_

Finally pulling away, JJ was still shaking, the emotion still sitting like a tidal wave in her chest. Taking the tissues Nick offered to her before he put an arm around her shoulders and held her protectively, she wiped her eyes, trying to bring it all back under control.

Her score had obviously gone up, since Simone was just now saluting the judges, but JJ didn't want to look. All that mattered to her right now was that she had completed the all-around final to the best of her ability, and if her dad had been around to watch it, he would've been ecstatic.

Simone's music roared to life, and seemingly so did the young gymnast.

" _Get ready to watch a coronation"_

Almost in time with the booming backing track of the music, Simone tumbled at the speed of light across the floor, landing her full twisting double layout with a confident THUNK on the other end.

Still overwhelmed, JJ had watched on through the remaining tears, managing to clap every so often as Simone did what Simone did best – be almost flawless.

When her friend landed the final tumbling pass at the end of a fantastic routine, the crowd cheered ecstatically, sending a new, different wave of emotion into JJ's heart.

Simone had been at the top of her game for three years, and here she was, living up to the expectations everyone else had put on her. The floor routine was bringing four long years to an end, four long years at the end of which lay the ultimate prize.

Which, with that routine, she had surely won.

Bouncing into her final pose, Simone threw her head back as the crowd screamed appreciatively.

" _I think that's your Olympic Champion! Simone Biles!"_

After a moment to process that her quest was over, Simone got to her feet, acknowledging the judges before running to the steps, waving up at the crowd as she went.

Aimee was first to get to her, wrapping her prodigy in a tight hug. The crowd was going crazy, but as soon as Aimee and Simone broke apart, Aimee turned to hug Nick, while JJ, wearing a watery grin, reached out for Simone.

"Are you ok?" Simone asked, echoing JJ's question from earlier that day.

"Yeah," JJ said truthfully. And, right then, she truly was. It felt like a weight had lifted from her shoulders.

"Your routine was so good, but then you nearly made me cry, so I'm totally jumping in your bed at like five am," Simone giggled as the two of them walked back to stand by the vault podium, JJ's arm around Simone's shoulders.

"It'll be the last thing you ever do, I swear," JJ said seriously, making Simone laugh. "And it probably wouldn't even be me that killed you, it would be Aly"

"So true," Simone giggled, working to slow her breathing down as she wrapped her arms around JJ's midsection.

As the arena waited in light chatter for Simone's score, Simone let go of JJ, leaning forward and resting her hands on her knees as she caught her breath.

"Hey," JJ teased, lightly swatting Simone's shoulder. "You're supposed to be the crazy fit one who's never out of breath"

"Shut up," Simone replied with a grin, straightening up and allowing JJ to wrap her in another hug.

"You gonna celebrate with a pizza when you win?" JJ asked with a chuckle.

"Only if Zac Efron's on top... without a shirt," Simone replied, making JJ laugh. Over to their left, Nick and Aimee watched the two with a grin. After JJ's tears just minutes earlier, it was good to see her laughing and carrying on as usual with her teammate.

" _She's won a lot in a hurry, and that's why people reach for superlatives to describe Simone, but she truly is probably the greatest female gymnast of all time"_

Moments later, with an eruption of noise that could deafen even the hardest of hearing, the scores on the jumbotron shifted.

And there it was.


	124. Chapter 124

**A/N: Enjoy! Lots of tears here.**

* * *

" _I'd like to win an all-around title. National, World, Olympic, I'm not that fussed... although Olympic all-around champion has a nice ring to it"_

She couldn't help it; the second the scores had shifted, she had been overwhelmed once again with tears. As they flooded her vision and turned the arena again into a blur of green, Simone was pulling her into a hug, beaming from ear to ear even through tears of her own.

She wasn't even sure she'd read the scoreboard correctly. So as Simone started to pull away from her, JJ looked up, managing to focus her eyes on the top three names up on the jumbotron.

 **RK  
1 - JAREAU. J – USA - 62.231  
2 - BILES. S – USA - 62.198  
3 - MUSTAFINA. A – RUS - 58.665**

" _I DON'T BELIEVE IT! POINT ZERO THREE THREE SEPARATING JJ AND SIMONE! THIRTY THREE THOUSANDTHS OF A POINT!"_

"I won," she sobbed as Nick practically swooped in and hugged her tighter than he'd ever hugged her before. "I really won"

"You did, kiddo, I've never been more proud of you," Nick said tearfully, pulling away and cupping JJ's face in his hands. She was smiling through the tears, which were coming with an uncontrollable vigour. The crowd was still at a level of deafening roar, and JJ was sure half of that had to be coming from her family.

"Your dad would be absolutely beside himself right now," Nick said softly, making JJ nod as more tears spilled down her cheeks.

"You better get up there and wave to that crowd before they go crazy," he said with a watery laugh, pressing a kiss to the top of her head before gently nudging her towards the podium.

The tears were starting to slow, but her eyes were still bright as she walked over and pulled herself up onto the vault podium. Lifting her hands to her mouth, she blew a kiss to the crowd before waving to all sides of the arena. When she turned to where she knew her family was sitting, she blew one more kiss.

" _Jennifer Jareau is the 2016 Olympic all-around Champion!"_

But without Simone, it just didn't feel right. So she turned back to where Nick and Aimee were standing with her teammate, and beckoned for her to join her. Simone beamed through tears of her own, leaping up onto the podium and walking straight over towards JJ.

"I'm so proud of you, JJ," she said, wrapping her arms around JJ and giving her a quick squeeze. When she pulled away, they grasped hands, before lifting their arms into the air and waving to the roaring crowd together. For the first time in over a month, JJ felt like her smile was genuine.

She just hoped that, somewhere up above, her dad was beaming with pride.

Up in the stands, Sandy had burst into tears the second the scores had changed. Having witnessed firsthand just how hard losing Michael had been on JJ, she could hardly believe her baby girl had come this far. In the row in front, Aly and Laurie were hugging each other, tears streaming down Aly's cheeks as Laurie and Maddie cheered ecstatically.

Whereas he had leapt out of his seat with a triumphant yell when JJ had been revealed as the winner, now, all Will could do was sink into his seat, bury his face in his hands and cry.

Finally, he understood what JJ had been chasing all these years, the hard pressed pursuit that London had given her a taste of.

It wasn't the gold. It was every obstacle she'd overcome, every minute in the gym when her arms felt like lead and all she wanted to do was cry. It was the hard work, determination, and the belief in herself that she could make it back. It was the grief that weighed on her shoulders this very minute in the Olympic arena. The thing she had desired most was the experience of a lifetime that could make every sacrifice, every day when she'd come home crying, every ounce of grief and pain, absolutely worth it.

And Will couldn't have been prouder.

* * *

With her tears now dried, and their podium gear on, JJ and Simone stood behind the medal podium as the same gentle Brazilian music played amidst the excited noises of the crowd. Aliya Mustafina had already received her bronze medal, waving serenely to the crowd as she had accepted it.

Simone seemed antsy as she waited, but finally, her turn came.

"Medalhista de prata, representando os Estados Unidos da América!"

"Silver medalist, representing the United States of America!"

"Médaillé d'argent, représentant les États-Unis d'Amérique!"

"Simone Biles!"

Beaming, Simone stepped up to the podium to an encouraging roar from the crowd. Even if she hadn't reached the heights everyone expected (and really, was 0.033 that much of a miss?), the watching crowd still adored her.

JJ watched, clapping for her teammate as the older IOC official hung the silver medal around Simone's neck. As she waited for the second official to approach with the trinket logo, Simone lifted her silver medal, waving to the TV camera closest to her and lifting her fingers up to indicate number two as she giggled.

Soon enough, she had her keepsake, and the crowd was starting to wind up for JJ's turn on the podium.

"Medalhista de ouro e campeão olímpico, representando os Estados Unidos da América!"

"Gold medalist and Olympic Champion, representing the United States of America!"

"Médaillé d'or et champion olympique, représentant les États-Unis d'Amérique!"

"Jennifer Jareau!"

Smiling from ear to ear, JJ stepped up to the top of the podium, waving to the cheering fans. There was a lump of emotion in her throat as the older man approached her and lifted her gold medal off the medal bearer's tray.

"Congratulations, you performed wonderfully," he praised as he shook her hand.

"Thank you," JJ said through a smile, before leaning forward as he hung the hard earned prize around her neck.

" _If you had told me in London that four years later, Jennifer Jareau would be the Olympic all-around champion, I would've told you that you were out of your mind"_

She couldn't believe it.

She was the Olympic all-around champion. Something little gymnasts across the world _dreamed_ of doing, something she had dreamed of doing but had never thought she would achieve. At least, not with Simone around, that was for sure.

A few moments later, with own keepsake tightly in her hand, the music died away.

"Senhoras e senhores, representei o hino nacional dos Estados Unidos da América"

"Ladies and gentlemen, please stand for the national anthem of the United States of America"

"Mesdames et Messieurs, veuillez vous lever pour l'hymne national des États-Unis d'Amérique"

The three medallists turned to their left, where the flags were going to rise. Just moments later, _'The Star Spangled Banner'_ filled the arena as two American and one Russian flag started to rise towards the ceiling.

With her hand over her heart, JJ had a lump swelling in her throat as she watched her flag rising towards the ceiling.

Cameras clicked all around her as the anthem played for the proudest moment she had ever experienced in her career. Thoughts of her dad filled her head and her heart, thoughts of how she wished for nothing more than for him to experience this moment with her.

As the anthem came to a triumphant end, the emotion bubbled over once again. Tears spilled down her cheeks as the three of them turned back to the front of the podium. Lifting her medal to her lips, she kissed the glittering disc, before lifting it high into the air above her head as she looked up towards the ceiling.

" _Look what I did Dad!"_

" _Oh wow... that really tugs on the heartstrings"_

Choking back her sobs, she resettled the medal back around her neck. Simone and Aliya both came up onto her podium, Simone wrapping her arms around JJ's midsection again as Aliya put an arm around her shoulders.

Grateful for their unspoken comfort, JJ wiped away her tears, before the three of them lifted their medals for the official photographers.

After the podium photos, they were led to the edge of the arena for more photos, after which Simone and JJ rejoined Nick and Aimee to head out into the mixed zone. The first people they saw out there were Marta and Rhonda.

"JJ, I'm so happy, so proud, you performed so well!" Marta said ecstatically, pulling JJ into a hug once they had reached them. "You have worked so hard this year, all years, and it has paid off for you, I couldn't be more pleased"

"Thank you Marta," JJ said with a smile, wiping away a stray tear that was clinging to her eyelashes.

"Jennifer, Simone, the media would like to interview you," the mixed zone manager said, directing the two over to where the reporters and journalists were waiting. JJ walked over straight away, while Simone hung back to speak to Marta.

The first journalist JJ approached was a young man who she immediately recognised as one of the reporters from London.

"Hi JJ, I'm Mitchell Hagan, do you remember me?" he said with a beaming grin.

"Yes, of course!" JJ said with a smile. As small as it was, the familiarity was helping her stay relaxed for the interview phase, despite all the microphones and phones being held out towards her.

"First of all, congratulations on an amazing competition. Did you come in today thinking you could win?"

JJ chuckled. "No-one in their right mind comes in thinking they can beat Simone"

Mitchell laughed. "Ah, but you did it anyway. How do you feel after the final? You showed a lot of emotion out there that I don't think people are used to seeing from you"

"Yeah... it's been a really long and emotional couple of weeks. I miss my dad so much, it's actually really hard without him here, but tonight... I think I went out there and made him really proud, and in the end, that was my only goal today, so to come out as the Olympic Champion is pretty incredible... although I do feel a little bad for Simone"

"Why's that?"

JJ sighed. "Well, she's had all this pressure on her, all year, to win the Olympic title, and she ended up falling short of her goal. Although, I wouldn't call 0.033 falling short by any means. I honestly thought she was going to win, right up to the very end. I just hope she knows what an amazing job she did today, and she should be very proud of herself"

"Will you get to see your family tonight?"

JJ shook her head. "No, I think I get to see them tomorrow... I'm actually happy that it won't be tonight, because I think I'm going to cry when I see my mom. I'm all cried out for one day, I have a headache"

Mitchell laughed as JJ relaxed into a grin. After a moment, his expression became even more sombre.

"Most people, when they lose someone very important in their lives, take a few days off work or training... you on the other hand, are here at the Olympic Games, you've just won your second gold medal from Rio and your fourth overall... what is this experience like for you? Obviously it's very different to last time"

JJ nodded. "It's hugely different to London. My confidence levels this time around are much better, and I feel more secure in myself. But having lost my dad... it's hard. It is the hardest competition I've ever put myself through, and while it's emotional and everyone will probably get used to me crying by the time it's all over... it's completely worth it. Before... before my dad passed away...," JJ trailed off, her eyes growing brighter for a moment. Taking a breath, she regathered her composure, putting a smile on her face to try and stop herself from crying. "He told me not to give up on this dream just because he got sick. He wanted me to go to Rio and live the Olympic dream again. I'm here competing for myself and the team, but more than anything else, I'm here competing for my dad, because I know he would be so proud to have seen me make this team"

"I think it was a loss felt throughout the entire team, am I correct?"

JJ nodded again. "The girls have been amazing though. We're all in this together, and they've been such an amazing support for me emotionally. I don't think I could've made it much further than team finals without these girls at my back"

"You definitely made everyone who loves you very proud tonight JJ, congratulations again, and best of luck for the rest of your finals"

"Thank you," JJ said sincerely, before turning away and heading over to the next group of reporters who were clamouring to speak with her.

* * *

It felt like hours and a million interviews later that the two girls were finally heading back to the Village, exhausted and ready to collapse into bed.

Falling into the bus seat beside Simone, who was turning her silver medal over in her hand, JJ sighed.

"I'm wrecked," she muttered, leaning back on the head rest and closing her eyes.

"Me too," Simone agreed. "Need that Zac Efron pizza... stat"

At that, both girls laughed.

"Hey, Simone," JJ said softly, once they'd calmed down. "You're not upset, are you?"

Simone sighed, looking up at JJ with a reassuring smile. "No. At least, not with you. You're one of my best friends, and I love you, you know that"

JJ nodded, the worry that had been settling in her stomach slowly starting to dissipate.

"I'm just disappointed in missing out on the gold. Winning the all-around at the Olympics has been one of my biggest goals for years. But I'm not disappointed in silver, or in my performance. I still came away with an Olympic medal, which is amazing... I guess, maybe... deep down I feel like I could've done better"

"Simone, you performed better than I've ever seen you perform before," JJ said in quiet disbelief. "I even thought you'd won, right up to the end"

"I think I let everyone's expectations get the better of me... but I'm actually kinda glad I didn't win... for two reasons"

JJ looked pointedly at her as the bus pulled away in the direction of the Village.

"I didn't meet the world's expectations of me... and the world didn't fall apart. It's ok to not be as great as everyone wants me to be, and I'm kinda glad that the pressure is gone. But mostly... I'm really glad you won. After everything you've been through, JJ... I think you deserve that gold medal a thousand times more than anyone else in the building today. We all agreed that none of us would be able to do what you're doing with everything that's happened. Just walking into that final today was so brave... I really admire you for that"

Biting back more tears, JJ reached over, giving her teammate a tight hug. Simone was so kind-hearted, it was threatening to make her cry again.

They'd settled back into their seats in silence for a few moments, when Simone spoke again.

"And besides, you're older. I'll win it in Tokyo"

As JJ looked straight at Simone, the two of them stayed silent for a moment. Seconds later, they burst into a fit of laughter.

* * *

The two of them had been swamped with hugs the second they had walked back into the complex at the Village. More tears had been shed, but eventually, exhausted, JJ retired to her room with Aly for a bit of downtime before they headed down for dinner.

On her bed was a handwritten note. Immediately, JJ could see it was from Maddie and Laurie.

 _JJ,_

 _Four years ago we watched you compete with Aly and the other girls in London, and it was when we saw you guys that we knew we wanted to go to the Olympics too. And look at you now, you're the Olympic Champion!_

 _We know it's been so hard for you after losing your dad, but we also know he would be so proud of you. We wish we had gotten the chance to get to know him like Aly and Simone did, he sounds like he was a wonderful man._

 _We love you so much JJ, we're so proud of you!_

 _Xx Laurie and Maddie_

Swallowing back more tears, JJ smiled, setting the note down on her nightstand, her newest medal sitting right next to it in its stand.

After changing into leggings and a T-shirt, she sat down on her bed. Moments later, Aly bounced down beside her, beaming from ear to ear

"You should have a look at Instagram," she said softly, leaning her head on JJ's shoulder.

Obeying without question, JJ opened up the app. As if it had read her mind, the first thing she saw was a post from Will, from almost two hours earlier, with almost 10,000 likes already.

There were two photos on the post. The first was of her and Simone hugging after the final score, tears running down both their cheeks. The second was JJ on the medal podium, her gold medal hanging prominently around her neck.

 _My beautiful, incredible girl... I am so proud of you. The last ten months of your life have been without a doubt, some of the hardest you'll ever experience. You've been putting up a brave front all this time, for your team, for your coach, for your fans, so only a few of us truly know how hard this has been for you. I've been there for it all. I've watched you selflessly care for your dad, tending to his every need, even after spending hours on end in the gym until you could barely hold yourself up any longer. I've held you and tried to find the words that would bring any sort of comfort as you've cried for the tragedy your family was facing. I've been there when you've broken down, swearing that that day was your last in gymnastics and you weren't going back. But look at you now. A month ago today, you lost your biggest cheerleader and with him, a piece of your heart. Tonight, you stand on the highest pedestal gymnastics has to offer – the Olympic all-around championship. I know your dad would be even more proud of you than I am, if that's even possible, and you should be just as proud of yourself. The tears you shed at the conclusion of your floor routine spoke volumes about how hard this has been, how much of this ordeal you've been holding in, and in that moment, all I could do was cry with you. Watching you tonight has changed my life; I never truly understood the Olympic pursuit until I was sitting there watching it unfold in front of me. You've made your own mark on this sport, and even better, that gold medal you earned tonight will forever be part of your dad's legacy. I hope you sleep better tonight knowing your dad is up there beaming with pride about what you've done. I can't wait to see you and give you the biggest hug. I'm so proud of you, Jennifer Jareau, and I love you to the end of the earth and back._

"He's almost too good to be true, hey," Aly said with a chuckle, wrapping her arm around JJ's shoulders as JJ's eyes filled with tears yet again.

"I can't wait to see him tomorrow," JJ breathed.

"It'll come in due time," Aly said. Nodding down towards JJ's phone, she smiled. "I think you better post some thoughts and feelings and keep your fans happy"

Chuckling, JJ nodded in agreeance as Aly got up, leaving her to write a post.

Twenty minutes later, she had posted a very thoughtfully written post. Accompanying it was one of the official photos she had found; one of her holding her gold medal up to the sky after the anthem.

 _This moment. This moment right here is the one that means the most to me tonight. A month ago today, I lost my dad. He was my best friend, my biggest cheerleader, and the world's greatest dad. Tonight, I won this gold medal for him, and more than anything in the world, I wanted him to see it._

 _I still can't believe it... I'm the Olympic all-around champion. It's a dream that every little gymnast has at some point in their life... a dream that has been sitting in the back of my mind for the last four years. Because while I never allowed myself to think it was impossible, I was competing against Simone Biles, and that's not a challenge you take lightly. It's something that wouldn't have been possible without the support of my friends and family, and the dedication and patience of my coaches. I'm proud of myself for proving to myself, to the world, that I could do it, but I'm just as proud of my amazing teammate and friend. She's a rock star, and she's spent the entire year having people swear black and blue that she was going to be the Olympic champion. She may not have the gold medal for it, but she's as good as the Olympic champion. She stood up there tonight and accepted the silver medal with so much pride and joy, how could you not be proud of her for that? She learnt tonight that the world won't cave in if she falls short of people's expectations, but let's be real... 0.033 is hardly falling short!_

 _It's hard to believe that five months ago, I had just received possibly the worst news of my life; that my dad was dying. On that day, I didn't care about the Olympics. I didn't care about Rio. It was hard for me to care about anything or anyone, because all I wanted was to reverse the clock and have more time with my dad. Losing him has been life changing, and it still hurts every day. I went out there tonight and performed for him, and it was the hardest thing I've ever done. He may not physically be here, but I know he was with me throughout the entire competition. I know he would've been proud of me even if I had finished last, but standing atop that podium with the gold medal was a dream come true for so many different reasons. Tonight, I won the Olympic title, but most importantly, I made my dad proud._

 _I miss you Dad. I love you. This gold medal is for you._


	125. Chapter 125

_**A/N: You'll see below why I am not a sports journalist haha!**_

* * *

 _It was a star studded evening for the gymnasts of Team USA last night in Rio de Janeiro. Competing in the individual all-around final in the Rio Olympic Arena, Jennifer Jareau and Simone Biles left a mark on the sport like no other._

 _It wasn't the finish the world was expecting. But it was mesmerizing nonetheless._

 _Heavily favored to win gold, three time World all-around champion Simone Biles was touted to be able to waltz through the competition. And she seemed to do so, putting up four excellent routines to showcase the high caliber of her abilities as a gymnast. She put forward such a dazzling performance that, even right to the end, everyone believe she would be the Olympic Champion._

 _But her teammate, Jennifer 'JJ' Jareau, had other ideas._

 _After three solid sets on the first three apparatus, JJ approached the floor. But as her music began, she froze, before stepping off the carpet and looking to her coach._

 _What he said to her had to be one of the best pep talks any athlete has ever received, because the routine that followed it was nothing short of stunning. And Jareau knew it, because once it was over, she broke down in tears._

 _What some people may not know is that those tears weren't really fuelled by incredible gymnastics. Just a month earlier, JJ's father passed away after a ferocious battle with Stage IV colon cancer. JJ herself said losing her father has been the hardest obstacle in her life so far. But one of her goals, that the two of them had discussed, was to win an all-around title. And last night, after one of the closest finishes we've ever seen, she achieved that._

 _At the Olympic Games nonetheless._

* * *

 _ **jareaumanar: I STILL CAN'T BELIEVE OUR LORD AND SAVIOUR JENNIFER JAREAU IS THE OLYMPIC AA CHAMPION**_

 _ **olympichampion: So I was all for Simone winning the AA, until JJ won, I LITERALLY DIDN'T REALISE HOW MUCH I WANTED HER TO WIN UNTIL SHE DID**_

 _ **cakeandgymnastics: someone snuck into my house and started cutting onions after JJ's floor routine, how goddamn rude**_

 _ **olympichampion: Ok but seriously… JJ's tears after floor broke my heart. That girl has been through hell and back with her dad passing away, and it was almost foreign to see her crying like that… I'm so glad she had a great performance, she knows she made her dad really proud.**_

 _ **fluffy-onodi: if you didn't cry when JJ lifted her gold medal up for her dad, then you officially don't have a heart**_

 _ **tkatchevmeifyoucan: ok but dating an Olympic gymnast has its perks because Will was crying up in the stands last night when JJ won, and Aly freakin' Raisman was the one comforting him. I would die to have an Olympic Champion be my 'comfort you when you cry' friend!**_

* * *

After the excitement, triumph, and unhindered emotion of the previous evening, the girls had a busy day ahead of them.

An early start brought them to the headquarters of NBC in Rio. All of them were clad in black leggings and runners, with a dark blue USA sweatshirt giving them yet again, a cohesive look. Their medals hung proudly around their necks, JJ's and Simone's gently clinking together as they moved.

Yawning and stretching, they were taken straight into the live-link studio upon arriving, and shown to the comfy black sofa where they were to sit for the interview.

"We'll go live in about five minutes, and you'll be interviewed by Hoda Kotb. Just stay nice and relaxed, and she'll be interviewing you through the live-link set up on that TV straight ahead," one of the studio techs said with a smile.

With Madison on the end beside Laurie, JJ in the middle, and Aly sandwiched between her and Simone, they were all fidgeting with excitement. Team interviews were always the most fun, and after the emotional high of last night, this one was bound to be interesting.

Before too much longer, Hoda's face appeared on the screen.

" _Next we're coming to you live from Rio de Janeiro, where the US gymnastics team is having a banner year. With us today we have Madison Kocian, Laurie Hernandez, Jennifer Jareau, Aly Raisman, and Simone Biles, good morning girls, thanks for getting up early!"_

"Hi!" the girls all chimed together, breaking into warm smiles.

" _You girls are doing absolutely amazing out there, you know? We couldn't help but smile watching you all in the team final on Tuesday night! Aly, you were the captain of the 2012 gymnastics team as well, what was it like for you to lead your team to victory once again?"_

"It was absolutely incredible, but I really feel as though this team kind of leads itself, you know. Between the five of us, we have a lot of experience, obviously JJ was on the 2012 team as well, so I don't feel as though the leadership came solely from me. We all cheered and supported each other through each rotation, and I think our team cohesion is a large part of why we were able to perform so well"

" _Madison, you performed so beautifully on the bars for the team, and you're still preparing for the event final. Even on just one event, has this Olympics been everything you've dreamed of so far?"_

Madison smiled. "Definitely, it's been the most wonderful experience. My best chance to make it to the Olympics was always going to be my bars, so I'm extremely grateful to be here, to have helped my team win gold, it's just amazing. I'm so excited for the bars final, to just go out one more time and perform to my best"

" _Spoken like a true specialist,"_ Hoda chuckled. _"And Laurie, you unfortunately didn't make it into any of the event finals, but you captivated the crowd out there on Tuesday night, and you're going home an Olympic Champion, so no harm done?"_

"No, I'm not upset about not making the finals, because I actually got bumped out due to the two-per-country rule, so I'm up there in the top eight either way and I'm really pleased to have made it that far. Besides, I'm on a team with the greatest gymnasts in the world, and I'm so excited to just go and cheer the girls on in their finals, and coming home with a gold medal from the team is just the cherry on top"

" _And now, JJ, Simone… let's talk about last night. Simone, you were expected to win, you gave the performances of a lifetime, and you came away with silver. Were you disappointed at all?"_

"Quite honestly, I was," Simone said truthfully. "But not in myself, or my performance, or the silver medal… I just was a little sad that I hadn't reached what everyone expected of me. But, as JJ said to me, I came so close that it hardly even counts as a loss. I'm just really proud of JJ for winning, because if I was in her situation right now, I'd be curled up in a ball at the bottom of my bed"

" _Yes, JJ, I think everyone in the world right now is commending you on being here at the Games. You showed so much bravery and courage in that arena last night, we all definitely shed some tears at the end of your floor routine. Has this been a really emotional experience for you?"_

"It really has," JJ said with a small smile. "It's been hard, it's probably the hardest thing I've ever done, but I couldn't have done it without the support of my friends and family, my coaches, and these amazing girls. The tears might tell a different story, but I am enjoying the experience. Last night was… there are no words to describe it. It meant the world to me because after the London Olympics, I actually said to my dad that winning a national, World, or Olympic all-around title was my next goal I wanted to accomplish, and I finally did it. It's sad that my dad didn't get to see it, but I know he's really proud of me"

" _I bet he is. Your family were thrilled up in the stands last night, your mom was in tears, and your partner was as well, so it was an emotional night all around for everyone who loves you"_

"Aww look!" Simone exclaimed as video of JJ's family from the previous evening came up on another screen beside the live-link. Sandy was beside herself with tears, Jason holding her with one arm as he pumped the other one up into the air. In the row in front of them, Will had sunk into his chair, his face buried in his arms and his body shaking with sobs as Aly hugged him, tears running down his face.

Swallowing thickly, JJ smiled, her hand going to her heart as she watched the open, unhindered reactions of her family to her win.

" _It's a beautiful thing to watch. Now, JJ, is there a, uh, a pedestal over to your right?"_

Looking around, JJ pointed hesitantly at a stand just over to their right with a black drape over it.

" _I'd like you to go over and take the cover off for me"_

Pushing herself up, JJ stepped over Laurie and Madison's legs, walking over to the stand. Reaching out, she carefully lifted up the drape. Underneath was a Kellogg's Special K cereal packet. On the front was a picture of the girls in their team leotards, showing off their gold medals.

"Oh wow!" JJ exclaimed, picking it up and turning so the girls could see it. As she did, she realized what was on the back.

A picture of her with her gold medal from the previous evening.

"That is so cool!"

" _I'll leave you to enjoy that girls, thank you for coming to join us and good luck for the remainder of your competitions!"_

* * *

One hand clenched tightly over her gold medals, she followed her teammates as they filed into the large open room where they were to meet their families for the first time since the end of the training camp. Sofas and beanbags were placed all around the room, some of them already occupied by other athletes and their families.

Simone spotted her family almost straightaway, running over to them with a smile on her face that could've lit up the world. JJ watched as she was wrapped into a tight bear hug by her sister, Adria. Wrapped together, the two of them almost looked like twins.

Feeling as though she was more than on the verge of tears, JJ glanced around the room as Laurie peeled off, having spotted her parents not far from the Biles family.

And then she saw them, just seconds after Aly started walking over to her family. They were sitting with the Raismans, beaming and waving at her from across the room.

The tears rose up in the back of her throat as she made her way over to them as quickly as she could. Moments later, she was wrapped tightly in her mother's embrace, the dam breaking as she started to cry.

"I'm so proud of you," Sandy gushed, holding JJ tight as she pressed a kiss to her temple. "So, so proud of you"

She didn't want to let go. There was so much comfort in her mother's embrace that she didn't know she'd been longing for. Right there, she felt as though she was ten years old again; wanting nothing more than for her mom to take all the pain away.

Managing a watery smile, JJ pulled away slightly so she could see her mother's face. Sandy looked as though she was holding back tears of her own, but even so, she was smiling as she gently wiped away JJ's tears with her thumbs.

"Your dad would've cried out of joy last night," she whispered, leaning in and kissing JJ's forehead. "I know he's so proud of you"

All she could do was nod as she pulled away. Seconds later, she was wrapped in a tight squeeze from her brother, who could hardly even speak. Katie approached both of them, wrapping her arms around them without a word.

A few moments later, JJ pulled away, giving them both an appreciative smile, before turning to face Will, who'd been waiting patiently at the end of the sofa. Sensing that the young couple might like a moment of privacy, Sandy, Jason, and Katie turned away to converse with Lynn and Rick, who had finished fawning over their daughter and were now watching the four of their children goofing around with each other.

"There really aren't enough words for me to tell you how amazing you are right now," Will said softly, leaning back against the arm of the sofa as he took JJ's hands. A smile crept onto her face, accompanying the pink blush on her cheeks as she wiped away the remainder of her tears.

"Let me guess… you're proud of me?" she asked, a cheeky glint in her eye.

"Unbelievably," Will affirmed with a chuckle, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her towards him. "You know… you made me cry… when that final score came up"

"I saw," JJ said softly. Smiling, she leaned in to his embrace. When he wrapped his arms tighter around her and held her close, all the tension and stress seemed to immediately dissipate off her shoulders. The familiar, comforting scent of his cologne met her nose, seeming to make their hug that much deeper.

"You ok?" he asked quietly. JJ nodded into his chest.

"It's been a really emotional couple of days," she breathed, earning another lingering kiss to the top of her head.

"I know," Will replied.

"I miss you," JJ said.

"I miss you too," Will breathed, rubbing her back gently. "But not much longer and you'll have to put up with me every day again"

A short silence followed, before Will spoke up again.

"I'm really proud of how you've handled everything so far. I know you'll be just as great in the rest of the finals"

"I don't wanna talk gymnastics today," JJ whispered, pulling back and tipping her face up towards Will with a loving smile.

"What do you wanna do then?" Will asked with a chuckle.

"I just want you to kiss me," was JJ's immediately reply.

Laughing softly, Will shook his head at JJ's request. But he obliged, leaning down and pressing his lips to hers. It was a gentle kiss, but to JJ, it was almost like it was everything she'd been longing for since the end of camp.

There may have been some tears. But seeing her family had come at the absolute perfect time. And by the time they were leaving the complex to head back to the village, she was feeling refreshed, like nothing could sway her.

* * *

A hard training session in the afternoon had been followed with physical therapy and some downtime.

But tired of being cooped up in the apartments when they weren't competing or training, the girls had banded together to persuade Marta and the coaches to let them go and enjoy themselves in the recreational pools down in the courtyard.

It had taken a bit of effort, but eventually, the five girls had trooped down to the pool, all bikini clad and carrying their towel, Rhonda, Aimee, Maggie, Nick, and Laurent behind them.

"Please just be a little careful girls, Marta will kill me if one of you ends up concussed or drowning," Rhonda called out after fifteen minutes of Simone and Laurie's usual rambunctious antics. JJ had been sitting on the edge of the pool, dangling her legs in and watching with a grin as the younger three girls splashed and mucked around like children.

"Hey JJ!" came a familiar voice behind her. Turning to look over her shoulder, JJ broke into a smile when she spotted Ellie Black of the Canadian team walking towards her, one of her younger teammates behind her.

"Hey Ellie," JJ said happily as Ellie sat down beside her and stuck her legs in the water as well. The younger behind her followed suit, sitting down on Ellie's other side.

"I didn't get a chance last night to congratulate you, you were seriously awesome out there," Ellie said with a smile, putting her arm around JJ's shoulders and giving her a squeeze. "Has it sunk in yet?"

JJ laughed. "No. It still feels like it went to Simone"

"Almost did, I can't believe how close it was"

"I know, it's so crazy"

"Oh, by the way, this is my teammate Shallon," Ellie said, leaning back and gesturing to the younger girl. "She's a little bit of a fan, I felt it was my duty to prove you don't bite"

JJ laughed again. "Hey Shallon, it's really nice to meet you"

"Nice to meet you too," Shallon replied with a shy smile.

"Hey, you're in the vault final aren't you?"

Shallon nodded, her demeanour suddenly changing to one of pride.

"That's so good for your first Olympics!" JJ praised. Shallon beamed.

There was a giggle behind them, and seconds later, JJ was falling into the pool. Turning around and surfacing, she found Simone, Aly, and Laurie standing at the edge of the pool with Ellie and Shallon, all five of them howling with laughter.

"You're getting an ice bucket in your bed tonight!" JJ exclaimed through a grin, pointing straight at Simone, who feigned shock.

"What are you talking about, it was Maddie's idea!" Simone replied.

"Sure Simone!" Maddie chimed in from behind JJ.

"I'll get all of you, just you wait," JJ said as she started to laugh.

Just minutes later, Ellie and Shallon had joined the five American girls in the pool, all of them laughing and splashing each other in high spirits.

Even at the height of their careers, there was always time to embrace their inner child. And every single one of them couldn't be happier about it.


	126. Chapter 126

**A/N: Little bit different, but kinda hilarious at the end. Excuse the awkwardness.**

* * *

Saturday dawned with an absolutely howling storm. The sun, struggling to peak above the horizon in the early hours of the morning, was already shrouded in darkening clouds. No rain had fallen yet, but judging by the sky, it was coming.

Drifting somewhere between sleep and wake, JJ was burrowed beneath her duvet, enjoying the feeling of sleepiness that she rarely got to savor anymore.

As the wind battered the building around them, a loud crash roused both JJ and Aly from their sleep.

"Oh for god's sake Simone!" Aly yelled, pulling her duvet over her head.

"Listen here grumpy butts, that wasn't me, but since you're awake!" Simone cried, barreling through the door and landing with a flying leap on top of JJ, who groaned in pain.

"Why is it always me?" she mumbled, pushing Simone to one side and draping an arm over her eyes. Simone giggled.

"Come on old ladies, we got morning training soon"

"Can't," Aly groaned. "I think I'm dying"

"Period?" JJ asked knowingly, pushing herself up.

"Yeah… shouldn't you be suffering right now too?" Aly replied. "You and I have basically the same cycle"

"Nope," JJ said with a cheeky grin. "I skipped it"

"God I hate you and your birth control," Aly groaned, falling back onto the bed as JJ and Simone laughed.

Eventually, JJ managed to get Aly up and moving, with much encouragement from Simone. An hour or so later, with the wind still battering the Village, the team was on the move for morning training.

* * *

While Simone and Aly ran their floor routines, JJ, Laurie, and Madison all stretched at the edge of the floor area. They had already done beam routines for the day, and after floor they would move to vault and bars. JJ's beam routine had been even better than in qualifying, and she was feeling incredibly confident as the final drew closer.

"How you feeling today?" Nick asked softly, sitting down on the bench beside JJ as she sank into a split.

"Pretty good," JJ replied truthfully. "Nothing hurts today, so I call that a bonus"

Nick chuckled. "Good to hear your old lady joints are coping… but you know that wasn't what I meant"

Sighing, JJ nodded. "I know. Honestly, I _think_ I'm ok... I mean, yeah, I feel a little like I'm doing something wrong by not being more upset right now… but at the same time I'm glad I'm enjoying the Olympics as much as I am"

Nick nodded understandingly. "I'm sure people have told you that everyone grieves differently. As far as I can see… I think you're doing just fine. But maybe to be on the safe side, go and see your regular therapist once you get home. The high of the Games might be masking a little more that you don't realize you're contending with"

JJ gave him a small smile, nodding in agreement. Comfortable silence fell between the two, during which JJ changed to her other leg split.

"So, have you spoken to Tash?" she asked conversationally after a few minutes.

Nick smiled. "Yeah, actually, I spoke to her this morning"

"How's she doing?"

"She's alright. A little bit of morning sickness, and she's more tired than usual, but her mom's with her until I get home. She says she's fine. Reminds me of someone else I know," Nick said with a pointed look at his gymnast. JJ grinned.

"You nervous about being a dad?"

Nick shrugged. "I don't know yet… it doesn't even feel real because I haven't been home. But… I guess I am a little nervous about it. Even though I've had years of practice with you making me want to tear my hair out"

JJ laughed, relaxing out of her splits and gently massaging her muscles.

"For what it's worth Nick… I think you'll be a great dad"

Nick smiled, clearly touched.

"Thanks JJ. That means a lot"

* * *

Relaxed vibes filled the living area of the apartment complex as the girls all lay about watching other events after dinner. The highlights of the day were playing, and they were half watching as they talked easily amongst each other.

Hovering on the outskirts of the conversation, JJ was scrolling absently through her Instagram feed.

Her mind was lingering on Will. She'd been missing him since the camp, but she hadn't realized just how much until she had seen him the previous day. He'd smelt _so_ good, it had stirred up something deep inside her that was yet to die down.

Noticing a certain picture on her feed, she stopped scrolling.

It was some sort of sponsored post, but that wasn't why it had caught JJ's eye. Instead, she had noticed it because it was of a couple, probably about the same age as herself and Will. They were closely entwined on a bed, hands resting on bare skin. It was one of those romantic, 'aesthetic' photos she often saw while scrolling Tumblr.

She knew it would be at least another three weeks before she was home with Will again. But something was burning, something she hadn't felt this strongly in quite a while.

Was it lust?

Swallowing thickly, she slowly got up from her beanbag and headed for hers and Aly's room. The girls didn't even notice that she had left the room, not even when she shut the door behind her.

She didn't really know what she wanted to do. She could call him… they'd explored phone sex a few times over the course of their relationship and had always enjoyed it… but she didn't know how she would explain that one away if Aly, or more likely, Simone, walked into the room.

It almost felt wrong for her to be lusting after Will after everything that had happened in the last month. But she knew the right thing to do was to listen to her body. She'd been feeling pretty good the last few days… and what she wanted right now was a little sexual pleasure.

The question now was how could she communicate that to Will?

The thought of a picture had momentarily crossed her mind. But she'd never done anything like that before. Sure, Will had definitely seen her naked in some pretty compromising ways, but somehow, a picture, something that would last forever, made her feel infinitely more vulnerable.

Sighing to herself, she turned back towards the door.

Time for some advice.

"Hey Aly," she said softly as she opened the door and poked her head into the room. "Can you come in here for a sec?"

"Yeah," Aly said, laughing at Simone as she got up from her chair.

Once they were both inside, JJ shut the door behind them.

"What's up?" Aly asked, looking somewhat worried.

"I… uh… need some help," JJ said quietly, avoiding Aly's gaze.

"With what?"

JJ blushed. "I'm really missing Will… in a… physical sense, and… I was thinking of… sending him a picture?"

Aly grinned. "Like… a naked picture?"

"Yeah," JJ said quietly.

"Ok, well first of all, ditch the nerves and shyness because you literally have the most amazing body of any of us and you shouldn't be shy about it," Aly said warmly, placing her hands on JJ's shoulders. "And secondly, it'll show in the photo if you're nervous"

JJ took a deep breath, nodding. A split second later, the door burst open.

"Did I hear something about a naked photo?" Simone said in an excited whisper as she came bounding into the room.

"Oh my god, you're literally like a five year old who can't stop eavesdropping," Aly laughed as JJ's cheeks turned a furious shade of red.

"Who's got a naked photo?" Simone asked, a cheeky glint in her eye.

"Aly, I swear to god," JJ said firmly, pointing a finger at Aly as Simone looked excitedly between them.

"She might have some good ideas," Aly giggled.

JJ groaned, flopping backwards onto Aly's bed.

"Wait, you want to _take_ a naked photo?" Simone asked incredulously. "Are you gonna send it to Will?"

"No, I'm gonna send it to my mom as an early Christmas present… who else would I send it to?" JJ exclaimed as the other two burst out laughing.

"What are you guys doing?" came the voices of Maddie and Laurie.

Much to JJ's embarrassment, but later, amusement, the four of them ended up involved. At first, JJ was sure she looked like a tomato as Aly offered posing suggestions while Simone and Laurie giggled about playing some Beyonce to translate a sexy mood in the photo. But in the end, it lost most of its seriousness and ended up with Simone doing exaggerated sexy dance moves from up on JJ's bed while the rest of them fell about in tears of laughter.

Sometime later, when they had moved back out into the lounge room, JJ left them in the middle of more giggly antics so she could take a shower.

It was as she was coming out the shower, her hair still damp, water droplets shining on her skin, that she caught sight of herself in the mirror.

Dropping her towel to the floor, she took a step forward, taking a moment to fully appreciate her naked form.

Turning slightly so she was more angled in front of the mirror, she couldn't help but admire how incredible her body looked right now. Here in Rio, she really was in the best shape of her life, and every ripple of muscle under her skin showed for it.

She took a deep breath. Seeing her own body, uncovered and unashamed in the mirror, was slowly dissipating the apprehension she felt about doing what she had been thinking about doing. She was proud of how she looked, the quiet strength that spoke from beneath her skin… and she wanted to share that with the only other person who knew her body as intimately as she did.

Picking up her phone from the counter, she held it at arm's length away from herself. Her other hand naturally went into her still damp hair, pushing the loose waves away from her face. Biting her lip, she took another deep breath, and clicked the shutter.

* * *

 _ **Ok, I have no idea what spurred you to do that, and I honestly kinda love it, but I was at dinner with YOUR MOM AND YOUR BROTHER!**_

Giggling, JJ opened the conversation.

It was late, and everyone was in bed. She knew she should've been sleeping, but she had been waiting all evening to talk to Will since sending him the incredibly intimate photo.

 _I've really missed you… a lot_

He replied just seconds later.

 _ **I've missed you too JJ. I can't wait to see you again… preferably between the sheets. Looking as hot as you do in that picture**_

 _Mmm, sounds good to me. What are you gonna do to me when you do get me into bed?_

 _ **I'm gonna take my sweet time on every part of your body, working you into an absolute state until you're begging me to make you come**_

 _Please keep going, you're making me so hot right now_

The dots indicating he was typing appeared on the screen. At that same moment, a message came through from her mom.

 _ **Hope you've had a good day sweetheart, can't wait to watch you compete again tomorrow. I love you!**_

Smiling, she quickly switched to her mom's conversation and tapped out a reply.

 _Thanks Mom, I love you too. Remember to breathe tomorrow._

The window appeared at the top of the screen with a new message from Will.

 _ **I'm going to pin you down and love you nice and slow… holding you right on the edge until you can't take it anymore**_

A shiver ran down JJ's spine. She was already feeling an urge, a need to get a release.

 _I want your cock inside me so badly right now, keep talking_

Seconds after she'd sent the text, her eyes suddenly fell on the name at the top of the screen. And then her heart immediately leapt into her throat.

"Shit!"

"What's wrong?" Aly mumbled in a sleepy haze.

"I just sent a sext to my mom," JJ hissed.

Aly immediately sat up, an incredulous grin already forming on her face despite being half asleep. "You what?"

"Don't you dare laugh, it's not funny," JJ said darkly, but it was too late, Aly was already laughing.

Unlocking her phone again, JJ quickly sent another text to her mom.

 _I am SO SORRY, that obviously wasn't meant for you!_

"Oh my god I can't wait to tell Simone"

"You better not!" JJ exclaimed, as Aly fell back into her bed and buried her face in her pillow to stifle the uncontrollable giggles.

Scowling, JJ looked back down at her phone, switching back to the conversation with Will, who was probably none the wiser somewhere in Barra da Tijuca.

 _Uh, we have a small problem_

 _ **What?**_

 _I was replying to you… or I thought I was… and I accidentally sexted my mom something about your penis_

It took a minute before Will replied.

 _ **Well that'll kill the mood**_

 _I'm sorry_

 _ **It's ok. I'll just never be able to look her in the eyes again, but it's cool**_

 _I'm really sorry_

Sending Will as many heart emojis as she could fit into one text, JJ felt her stomach drop when a text from her mom came through.

 _ **Yes, very clearly that wasn't for me. I was going to say, I know you have sex, you really don't have to prove it to me. But if it's any consolation, that's nothing. You should've seen what I intercepted with your brother!**_

 _Please do tell next time I see you. Also, Will's mortified, so please be nice to him tomorrow._

 _ **Scout's honor. Haha. You kids are crazy. You know I still love you. I'll talk to you tomorrow. Go get some sleep.**_

Smiling, JJ let out a breath she didn't know she'd been holding.

 _Thanks for being so cool about this. I love you too._


	127. Chapter 127

**A/N: Enjoy!**

* * *

Men's floor was over, but the Brazilian crowd was still cheering ecstatically. Waiting in the hallway to be escorted out for the women's vault final, JJ and Simone had watched on as two of the male Brazilian gymnasts led the country to history. It had been an emotional final overall. Diego Hypolito, a long time member of the Brazilian national team, had won many floor medals at the World Championships, including two golds, but had never completed a successful routine at the Olympics to make the medal podium. In 2008 in Beijing, he had fallen on his final pass, finishing in sixth. Four years later in London, he had fallen again in the qualifying round and had failed to even make the final.

This time, he had landed on his feet, tumbling his way to a silver medal. Tears of joy had been streaking down his cheeks as he celebrated with sheer childlike joy. To top it off, his young teammate, Arthur Nory Mariano, had clinched bronze. As well as the two history making Brazilians, Max Whitlock of Great Britain had clinched the country's first gold medal in 108 years, making the podium worth triple the amount of celebration.

It was awe inspiring stuff. And now, JJ was feeling incredibly inspired and ready to compete as they headed out for the vault final, drums rapping around the arena with the subtle applause of the crowd

JJ was going to be competing first. She didn't know whether that made her feel better or more nervous as they reached the podium and followed the volunteer up onto the stairs.

She was wearing the blue ombre leotard with the red V emanating from the neck. She and Maddie had decided on it together so they would match for bars finals, as Simone had chosen to wear the red leotard JJ had worn for the all-around final. Whereas she had decided against it in a fit of frustration on Thursday morning, today, she felt beautiful in it.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the women's vault finalists!"

"Senhoras e senhores, os finalistas do vault das mulheres!"

Standing between the volunteer and the living legend herself, Oksana Chusovitina, JJ was already smiling.

"Representing the United States of America!"

"Representando os Estados Unidos da América!"

The cheering immediately wound up into an enigmatic roar, making JJ smile even wider.

"Jennifer Jareau!"

As she stepped forward and waved to the crowd, the applause was loud enough to drown out the rest of her name.

" _In case you've missed the past few days in gymnastics, the Brazilian crowd here absolutely adores JJ because she won their hearts along with the Olympic all-around title on Thursday night!"_

JJ stood patiently as the remaining seven finalists were announced to the crowd; Oksana Chusovitina of Uzbekistan, who was competing in her seventh Olympic Games. Oksana had first competed in 1992 where she won a gold medal with the Unified Team... two years before JJ was even born.

Next was Maria Paseka, the bronze medallist from London four years ago. She had delivered a strong Amanar in the team final to boost Russia up to the silver medal they hadn't been expected to get. Shallon Olsen followed, the young Canadian who was still gaining international experience, but was doing well to be in her first major final.

Hong Un-jong was announced next, the 2008 Olympic vault champion from the stiff refines of North Korea. JJ had heard whispers of her debuting a triple twisting Yurchenko, but was yet to believe it until she saw it. Next to her was Dipa Karmakar from India, the 2014 Commonwealth Games bronze medallist on vault, and the performer of the hardest vault in women's gymnastics, the Produnova. She herself was making history as India's first gymnast to make an Olympic final.

The last two included Giulia Steingruber of Switzerland, the three time European vault champion, as well as also holding all-around and floor titles for the same event. JJ had always liked Giulia; while the two weren't as close as she was with gymnasts like Ellie Black and Lauren Mitchell, they had always been friendly and conversational at meets they attended together. And lastly of course was Simone, who JJ hoped was going to win the final; her superior execution had always been coupled with lower difficulty, bringing her vault totals down below those of her competitors the entire quad. But finally, she had upgraded, and JJ hoped it would finally bring her the title she'd been chasing.

The chimes sounded and the other seven gymnasts left the podium, leaving JJ up with Nick to prepare the apparatus for her vaults.

Knowing Nick knew how to prepare it just right for her, JJ walked to the end of the runway, dipping her hands into the chalk bucket and dusting her hands with the white powder.

Adjusting her tiger paws as she turned to face the table, she took a deep breath, readying herself beside the runway as Nick adjusted the safety collar around the springboard one last time. With a thumbs up in JJ's direction to say the vault was ready, he hurried off the podium to wait by the table.

It took a little while before she received her green light, but finally the judges were ready to begin.

" _Ok, so she's flashing a 6.3 difficulty on that screen just behind her, that means her first vault, the Amanar, is worth a maximum of 16.3 if she's absolutely perfect"_

Saluting the judges, she stepped onto the runway, taking a deep breath to settle herself before she competed.

Swinging back, she took off at a run down the runway, building speed and momentum into the table. She hurdled forward, flipping seamlessly onto the springboard and then back onto the table. The block was strong, and this time, she pulled the twist around at the perfect moment. She landed the vault nearly perfectly, with only a slight shuffle of her feet to catch herself before she turned and saluted the judges again. The crowd cheered ecstatically for her, putting a grin on her face as she stepped off the landing mat.

" _Great first vault, I think that's the best Amanar she's done all year!"_

Nick was up on the podium almost immediately, giving her a high five as he headed over to readjust the board and collar.

"Really good! Remember with this one to anticipate the half turn and block really hard through your shoulders," he instructed. JJ nodded, walking back to the end of the runway, readjusting her wrist guards as she went.

" _She's not the gymnast I ever would have considered to add a vault specialty in, but she just continues to surprise me, she's actually gotten very good on the event!"_

" _I never would have seen her being the Olympic all-around champion either, but she did that too"_

" _So her next vault is going to be valued at 6.0, still fairly difficult, especially for someone who's only been doing a second vault for about two years. It's a Yurchenko half on, front layout with a full twist off, the same vault that McKayla Maroney actually fell on in this final four years ago"_

A short while later, her first score was flashed on the board at the end; 15.933.

" _Wow, well I said it was the best Amanar she's ever done, and the score absolutely reflects that, that's the highest international score she's ever gotten!"_

The green light flashed again, and she took a deep breath once more.

'Put it to your feet. Do it for McKayla,' she reminded herself.

"Come on JJ," Sandy muttered to herself up in the stands. Ever since the World Championships in Rotterdam six years ago, she had always been nervous watching JJ on vault. She'd seen a lot of less than great things happen to her daughter over the course of her career, but for her, the worst was still watching her lying on the landing mat sobbing in pain, knowing there was no way to get down there and help her or comfort her. She'd watched JJ's World Championship dreams fade away as soon as they'd begun, and it had broken her heart.

If only she'd known then just how far JJ would end up coming.

With what felt like twice the power, JJ rocketed down the runway. Her hurdle and turn onto the springboard was strong, and she knew when she got the half turn all the way around that she was going to have another solid vault.

Remembering not to anticipate a stick too much, her feet found the mat on the other side. She took it through her knees, straightening up almost instantaneously without so much as a flicker.

" _That was REALLY GOOD!"_

"That's my girl," Will said with a smile as he clapped and cheered with the crowd. JJ walked off the mat, getting a tight hug from Nick as she made her way down the stairs. A little way down the corridor at the side of the vault, she was wrapped into another hug by Aimee and then Simone.

"You were so good!" Simone said happily, walking alongside JJ as they headed back to their bags. Along the way, the other waiting gymnasts stopped JJ, hugging her and congratulating her on a strong competition.

After JJ had packed away her tiger paws and pulled on her warmup pants, her final total came up on the jumbotron in the middle of the arena.

15.799

"Good job kiddo," Nick said, beaming as he high fived her again. "And NBC said you'd never be a vaulter"

JJ laughed, settling back in her chair as the final got completely underway.

Oksana Chusovitina started off very strong, competing her namesake vault, the Chusovitina, but came unhinged on her Produnova (JJ was in awe of the fact that at 41 and as a mother, she was throwing the hardest and most dangerous vault in women's gymnastics). It had looked good in the air, but a bounce and forward roll out of the landing meant she wouldn't be making the podium unless there were multiple other mistakes.

Maria Paseka and Shallon Olsen followed. Maria's vaulting had definitely improved since the London Olympics, JJ had to give her that, but the landing deductions were rather significant, as were the form deductions through the air. Shallon was rather the same, although her execution could have used some significant work.

Hong Un-jong vaulted a clean Cheng, the same vault Simone would later do, but her attempt at the triple went haywire. Landing it completely underrotated, she bounced backwards and fell over, incurring an immediate point off for the fall. Later, the judges decided to downgrade the attempt to an Amanar, meaning the triple remained open for an opportunity to be named.

Dipa and Giulia both made strong bids for the podium, with Dipa showcasing a strong attempt at a Produnova, but in the end, with only Simone left to go, JJ was still in the lead, Giulia right behind her.

"You got it Simone!" JJ called out encouragingly as Simone took the stage.

And got it she did, for both of her vaults were as incredible as everyone expected them to be. Landed upright, with minimal landing deductions and superior power, she was very clearly going to be the Olympic Champion. Thrilled for her friend, JJ was the first one after Aimee to get to her, hugging her tightly as they laughed and smiled all the way back to their seats.

A couple of minutes later, the final totals were updated.

 **RK  
1 – BILES. S – USA - 15.966  
2 – JAREAU. J – USA - 15.799  
3 – STEINGRUBER. G – SUI – 15.216  
4 – KARMAKAR. D – IND – 15.066  
5 – PASEKA. M – RUS – 15.033  
6 – HONG. U – PRK – 14.900  
7 – CHUSOVITINA. O – UZB – 14.833  
8 – OLSEN. S – CAN – 14.816**

" _We are witnessing history today! Simone Biles is now the first American to win the Olympic vault title, and possibly even bigger than that... Jennifer Jareau is now the most decorated American Olympic gymnast! Move aside Shannon Miller, because JJ has a whopping EIGHT Olympic medals!"_

" _And she now has an Olympic medal in all six disciplines of artistic gymnastics! Two team medals, two all-around medals, and a medal on each of the individual events!"_

" _When was the last time someone did that?"_

" _We'll have to look it up!"_

" _1988, Daniela Silivas of Romania won six medals at the Seoul Olympics,_

She knew she'd made history. But like the Olympic all-around win, it didn't feel real.

Right now, she just wanted to celebrate with her friend.

* * *

A little under an hour later, she was walking back into the arena with an entirely new group of competitors. Her silver medal from vault was safely in her backpack, being watched over by Nick.

Uneven bars was a whole different ballpark. JJ was again the first competitor. Keeping her nerves in check was harder on bars than any other event, but she did it with a vengeance. Her routine was solid, fluid, and so clean, that when she dismounted, she could hardly believe how thrilled she was with the attempt.

She didn't watch much else of the final, only the routines from Maddie, and Aliya Mustafina, who both surpassed her score. Maddie had been the top qualifier, but Aliya increased her difficulty, slotting her less than a tenth above Maddie to take the top spot.

When all was said and done, JJ couldn't believe it. She'd won ANOTHER bronze medal on bars. She'd gone first and completely held her own, and she was so giddy with joy about it that she was nearly in tears.

 **RK  
1 – MUSTAFINA. A – RUS – 15.900  
2 – KOCIAN. M – USA – 15.833  
3 – JAREAU. J – USA – 15.600  
4 – SCHEDER. S – GER – 15.566  
5 – SEITZ. E – GER – 15.533  
6 – SHANG. C – CHN – 15.433  
7 – LOPEZ. J – VEN – 15.333  
8 – SPIRIDONOVA. D – RUS – 13.966**

It had been an incredibly long day. It hadn't escaped her notice that she had widened her lead over Shannon Miller by another medal. _Nine_ medals. It just didn't feel real.

"I'm so proud of you all!" Aly shrieked a couple of hours later when they arrived back at the Village. Simone was proudly sporting her gold medal, happy to have clinched herself the individual gold medal that had alluded her on Thursday evening.

"Can we just mention the fact that JJ just won her ninth Olympic medal today?" Laurie called out incredulously. "I couldn't believe it!"

"Honestly Laurie, neither do I," JJ replied, making them laugh. "I'll have to go home and lay them all out and just stare at them for like an hour before it starts to sink in"

After a shower, JJ collapsed into a beanbag in the living area as the girls all argued over what events they wanted to watch on the TV.

Her social media was going crazy, and now that she had a little bit of downtime, she wanted to check it. She had avoided checking her Twitter since Thursday, because the emotion of the all-around had been running extremely high, but now, she felt ready.

 _ **LaurennHopkins96: To recap, JJ is one the first American gymnasts to go back to back in the team at the OG, and she's also won a full set of individual medals including the AA gold. I love this girl so much!**_

 _ **Gymrudestics: NINE MEDALS. NINE OLYMPIC MEDALS. JJ, ARE YOU EVEN HUMAN?**_

 _ **iamhalsey: not normally a sports person but jj_jareau94 has had me glued to my screen all week, congratulations girl, you're killing it!**_

JJ's jaw dropped.

"What?" Maddie asked, having noticed.

"Halsey tweeted me," she said in disbelief.

"WHAT?!" the other four girls exclaimed.

She kept scrolling, liking every tweet as it popped up in her mentions.

 _ **Pink: The Final Five are out here like American heroes, congratulations girls! Huge congrats to JJ, you're making your dad really proud girl!**_

 _ **milliebbrown: biggest congratulations to jj_jareau94 on her Olympic gold! You performed amazingly, well done!**_

Heady from the attention, JJ switched over to her Instagram after retweeting the celebrity tweets.

Immediately, she noticed something in her activity feed that she felt was worth taking a look at.

When she opened it, she found a picture of a little girl excitedly holding up a signed poster of JJ that she must have won at the National Championships one year.

 _ **I don't know if you're going to see this jenniferjareau, but I figured it's worth a shot. I cannot thank you enough for being so open on social media, in interviews, etc, about the tragedy your family faced this summer. First and foremost, I want to say how sorry I am for the loss of your father. Losing a loved one is one of the hardest challenges life can throw at us, and I'm truly sorry it happened to you. I'm writing this today because, whether you intended to be or not, when you so openly broke down in tears on Thursday night, you had an everlasting impact on someone very dear to me.**_

 _ **Five months ago, my husband passed away from complications of a chronic illness he had had his entire life. Together, we have a little girl, my nine year old princess, Brooklyn. Brooklyn is a gymnast here in Seattle, where she's lived her entire life. After she lost her dad, she was heartbroken. She refused to go to gymnastics, and even though she's a young child who still hasn't quite mastered the art of masking her emotions, she's become afraid of crying in front of other people.**_

 _ **On Thursday night, she watched you take the floor even though I'm sure you were missing your dad terribly. When you started to cry at the end of your routine, my Brooklyn started to cry as well. "She must be missing her daddy as much as I miss my daddy," was what she said to me.**_

 _ **The next morning, she asked to go back to gymnastics. Even in the short few days since then, I've seen her make a huge step forward. She's finding it easier to talk about how she's feeling, and she's even shown a little emotion in front of others.**_

 _ **Brooklyn idolises you JJ, and I can't thank you enough or commend you enough on being as brave and courageous as you've been. Thank you for being an amazing role model, not only for my Brooklyn, but for little girls and boys everywhere, gymnast and non-gymnast, grieving and non-grieving alike. Thank you for showing people everywhere that passions and hobbies such as sports can be healing. You truly are a special young lady, and I hope that the world grants you happiness and healing going forward. Know that you have all the love and support in the world coming from Seattle. Xxx Brooklyn and Terri.**_

"You ok?" Aly asked, having noticed JJ was now wiping away tears.

"Read this," JJ replied, handing Aly the phone. Aly took it, her eyes scanning the paragraph of text and growing awfully bright as they did.

"Oh JJ... that's so sweet! See, you really are making a difference to some people!"

Taking her phone back, JJ screenshotted the post, sending it in a text to her agent, Lucy.

 _Can we do something for them? Tickets to the Kellogg's Tour? Something? I want to do something for her. Even if it's just meeting up with her._


	128. Chapter 128

**A/N: I kinda love this chapter :D**

* * *

 _ **How's my beautiful beam queen this morning? Hope there haven't been any more tears since I saw you. You deserve to be happy and smiling.**_

The text was a sweet wakeup call on Monday morning, the morning of JJ's last final in Rio.

She was actually a little sad. Twice now, she had trained endlessly with the goal of going to the Olympics, and twice now, it was over all too soon.

Sitting up in bed, she vowed to herself to savor and enjoy every minute of her last final. Unlocking her phone again, she quickly tapped out a reply to Will.

 _I'm pretty good. Kinda sad that my Olympics are almost over, but excited to go out and compete beam._

 _ **You're actually crazy, still can't believe you enjoy beam.**_

JJ laughed to herself as she kicked the covers off and stood up. Aly was already up, getting dressed for morning training.

"Nick is apparently on the warpath this morning, like a drill sergeant," Aly giggled as she tugged a T-shirt over her training leotard. "Simone's been avoiding him all morning"

"Yeah, because it's beam final day. He's always a Nazi on beam final day," JJ laughed. "It's like all of a sudden, there's a beam title at stake and he starts losing his shit"

"Gotta keep up his reputation as national beam coach," Aly said with a grin, making both girls laugh even harder. "You nervous today?"

JJ shook her head. "It's beam… I'm never really nervous for beam. I think I'm more nervous about what people would say if I fell _off_ the beam"

Aly chuckled. "Yeah, that would cause quite a stir. The gymnastics community _has_ proclaimed you the one and only beam queen, after all"

"Yeah, you getting me a tiara for Christmas?" JJ joked. Aly laughed.

"Only if you go out there and kick some beamer butt"

* * *

She was third up in the final, and it was well and truly underway. The morning training that day had gone incredibly well, and JJ was a little sad to think it was her last compulsory training. But even so, she was kinda glad to give her a body a break. Even though physically she was in the best shape of her life, she was tired. A sleep-in the following morning was going to be _incredible_.

Both she and Simone had chosen the same leotard for the final. It was the red one with the white and navy V line neck, the one that had been released as part of a media summit before the team was even announced.

She was so focused on her own routine that she wasn't actually sure who had gone before her. But soon enough, she was standing on the podium, shaking out her wrists as she waited for the green light. Her left wrist was a little sore, most likely from holding it funny while she slept. She knew it wouldn't inhibit her routine at all; she'd competed with much worse aches and pains in the past.

" _This could be history making right here. She's the reigning Olympic and World champion, and she's leading the pack coming in. Basically all she has to do is stay on the beam, and she's got another gold medal"_

Green light.

Smiling as she saluted, she quickly narrowed her focus down on the end of the apparatus. One deep breath to steady herself and she took off at a light run. Punching off the springboard, she flipped through a clean pike front to land securely on the end of the beam as the crowd applauded.

"Just stay on baby girl, just stay on," Sandy whispered to herself as she clenched her hands beneath her chin. She hated that she got so nervous when JJ was on beam. It was, after all, the only event she _hadn't_ sustained an injury on throughout her career, and she had been best in the world for five years running. But somehow, every time JJ mounted the suede top beam, Sandy's stomach churned the entire time.

Executing a secure standing Arabian, JJ smiled slightly to herself; she hadn't competed that move in qualifications for fear of coming undone on it. But she needn't have worried.

Swinging back, she sprung off her feet, turning halfway to land in a front walkover. Without even a whisper of movement, she connected it straight into two front aerials. Perfect.

"Nice JJ, you got it!" Aly called out from the stands; they were right above the beam, and Aly was watching so intently, she was almost entirely out of her seat.

Turning, she did two quick runs, punching into a front tuck that was connected straight to a wolf jump.

"Nice!"

A little bit of low beam choreography served to help her catch her breath. As she got up again, she was breathing deeply and calmly. Now for the hardest part of her routine.

" _I still can't believe she does this near the end of the routine"_

Flip, flip, layout full twist. Landed with a defiant thwack against the end of the beam to raucous applause.

Her leap series came next. Powering through her legs, she forced her legs to oversplit, making sure she was centered and strong on the landing.

'Just the turn, you've come this far,' she reminded herself. Breathing deeply, she pulled her body up into her full turn. It was so strong in fact that she kept going for another half, eliminating the awkward bit of choreography at the end to turn her around for her dismount.

" _Oh, just perfection"_

The chime sounded indicating she had ten seconds to dismount the beam.

"You got it JJ!"

She swung back, leaping into the first flip.

As her hands hit the beam on the second flip, she felt a crack in her left wrist, followed by a sharp pain, but like the competitor she was, she never even blinked.

Her punch was high, and her dismount was so floaty that she opened out with enough time to ensure a perfect stick.

Which it was.

The crowd went nuts as she lifted her arms up above her head, her smile telling everything to the world.

She had to have done it again.

Turning, she saluted the judges at the edge of the beam podium, before turning and walking back over to the stairs, where Nick was waiting. As she approached him, she clenched her right hand around her wrist tightly, suddenly aware of the pounding ache resonating through it.

She must've grimaced, because Nick suddenly looked concerned.

"What did you do?" he asked softly.

"It cracked. On the last flip before the dismount, I felt this crack and then it just started hurting like hell," she said as she came down the stairs. "It's not that bad, I mean, it was hurting this morning, I probably just overdid it. I bet I popped a fluid bubble in the joint or something, you know my old lady joints don't like me these days"

"We'll get it looked at just to be safe," Nick chuckled, leading her back to her bag even as she received high fives from the other gymnasts and even a hug from Flavia Saraiva.

"Can we wait until my score comes up? That was like, the best routine I've ever done, I want to know what I got," JJ asked. Nick grinned.

"You bet kiddo, because that absolutely _was_ the best routine you've ever done"

At that point, Simone and Aimee returned from the warmup gym where they'd been waiting out the back. Getting a quick hug from her teammate, JJ turned, facing the audience right above them and waving to Aly, giving her a thumbs up. When she stepped back, she could see Will, her mom, and her grandmother all sitting together. Blowing them a kiss, she waved again, before turning back to Nick.

It seemed to take forever for her score to come up.

When it finally did, her jaw dropped as the USA block above them started screaming in delight.

" _HOLY MOLY!"_

16.133. The highest beam score of the QUAD. And not only that, very likely the highest beam score since the Code had a major change following the 2008 Olympics.

" _Everyone else might as well go home, there's no chance of beating a 16! WOW! WOW!"_

"That is amazing," Nick laughed, wrapping JJ in a hug as Simone clapped happily.

"You're never gonna let me win beam are you?" she laughed as she approached her older teammate.

"Nope," JJ replied, making the two of them laugh as they hugged.

"Alright, let's go get this wrist looked at and then we can come back," Nick said, wrapping an arm around JJ's shoulders and handing her her warm-ups.

After a check-up with the medical team and a quick portable X-ray done in the medical rooms, it was discovered that JJ had actually fractured a bone in her wrist. It appeared to be a stress fracture that had been developing over time and had given out on the last weight bearing move at the end of her routine.

So she was sent back into the arena, her wrist heavily taped and secured in a splint, with the advisory to have it looked at in a hospital as soon as possible to determine the recovery time.

She wasn't upset at all. If it had happened before beam, she knew she would have been more upset. But her competition was over and she had all but locked up her repeat title. There was nothing to be cut up about.

But when they entered to see the final routine being performed by Flavia, JJ found Simone slumped solemnly in her chair.

A quick glance at the scoreboard told JJ things weren't good.

14.733 for the normally mid 15s gymnast.

"You ok?" she asked as she approached, taking the free seat on Simone's left.

"I fell," Simone muttered.

"Like… off the beam?" JJ asked in disbelief. Simone shook her head.

"I did my front tuck and my foot slipped. I grabbed the beam to stop myself falling off," Simone said dejectedly. "I mean, I'm glad I didn't fall all the way, and I'm glad they scored me fairly, but it still sucks"

"Yeah," JJ replied, putting an arm around Simone's shoulders. "Hey, you're still badass enough to challenge for the podium even with a mistake"

Simone giggled, nodding in agreement. "What did they say about your wrist?"

"Stress fractured by the look of it"

"Aw man, that sucks!"

JJ shrugged. "I'm done competing, I actually don't really care"

Simone laughed, shaking her head as they turned to watch Flavia.

Minutes later, the tiny Brazilian was done competing, and after what felt like an incredibly long wait, the final scores were released to the arena. More cheers and applause rang out from above them, especially when JJ hopped back up on the podium and waved to the crowd.

 **RK  
1 – JAREAU. J – USA – 16.133  
2 – WEVERS. S – NED – 15.433  
3 – BILES. S – USA – 14.733  
4 – BOYER. M – FRA – 14.600  
5 – SARAIVA. F – BRA – 14.533  
6 – FAN. Y – CHN – 14.500  
7 – PONOR. C – ROU – 14.000  
8 – ONYSHKO. I – CAN – 13.400**

She was back to back Olympic Champion… twice.

* * *

" _So there you have it. Jennifer Jareau finished her Olympics with a gold medal on her pet apparatus, and a broken wrist"_

" _That girl does not do things by halves"_

" _Absolutely not. She's now a ten time Olympic medalist, five of those gold, she's the most decorated American gymnast at both Worlds, Olympics, AND overall, and she's the first American gymnast to win the team, all-around, and an event title at the Olympics, as well as the first to go back to back as an Olympic Champion on the same event. I believe she's also the first to medal twice on two or more events at the Olympics"_

" _What an incredible way to go out"_

The medal ceremony for beam had been more bittersweet than JJ expected.

Having the beam gold hanging around her neck for the second time felt more incredible than she could describe. Beam really had always been her favourite event, and she knew she'd be lying if she said she wasn't just a little territorial about it sometimes. Not only that, but she had won it with the best score she'd ever received internationally, and she couldn't have been prouder of herself.

The mixed zone felt crazier than usual, but without any more finals to worry about, JJ took it smiling.

"Were you nervous before your routine?"

Smiling, JJ shook her head at the reporter. "No, I wasn't nervous. Beam has always been my favourite event, and I knew I'd done the training required for this moment. I was just thinking about how I wanted it to be my best routine I've ever done, because it was my last routine of the Olympics"

"What happened to your wrist?"

"As I was dismounting, I felt a crack in my wrist. It's not too bad, the medical staff believe it's just a minor stress fracture. I'm just glad it happened at the end of my routine"

"Will you come back to gymnastics next year? Is Tokyo on your mind?"

"I haven't really thought that much about it. Quite honestly, the Olympics have made me push away dealing with the grief of losing my dad, so I need to go home and take some time away from the sport to rest and heal, both physically and emotionally. I'll decide later on what I'm going to do, but there's no rush to come racing back in, we've all seen how successful Aly was after some time off"

"What did you think when Simone fell?"

"I actually didn't see her routine because I was having my wrist looked at, but she told me what happened when I came back out. I just think she's not perfect, none of us are. She's a 19 year old human being who can't be immune to mistakes, and I know she's just thrilled to have gotten bronze even with a mistake, it just shows how good the rest of the routine was"

"How does it feel to go back to back?"

"It's just surreal! I was so happy when I won the title in London, because as I said, beam is my favourite event, and I honestly wasn't really considering defending that title until this year when it started to look like I would make the team. It's amazing to have actually done it, and I hope people understand how much hard work went into it"

"And having ten Olympic medals, what's that like?"

"Crazy," JJ laughed. "I need to go home and lay them all out together, it's just not sinking in that I've actually achieved that"

"How are you going to celebrate having finished your competition?"

JJ laughed. "I'm staying up late, sleeping in, and eating the junk food I've been avoiding all year"

The reporter laughed. "Thank you so much JJ, congratulations on your win!"

* * *

Dinner that night in the food hall was exciting. So many of the athletes, both from the USA and elsewhere, came up to congratulate JJ on her ten medal achievement. Michael Phelps and Usain Bolt were both amongst them, making JJ feel a little star struck.

Later on, she was lying wide awake in bed while Aly slept soundly across the room, her mind going a million miles a minute. Her wrist was a little achy, but most of the initial pain had died away, and she knew it would be feeling better very soon.

It was over. Her Olympics were over. Four years of hard work, blood, sweat, determination, injuries, and tears had culminated in another five medal haul reminiscent of London. And just like that, it was over.

Talk was already swirling online of what could have been had she not downgraded her floor routine in qualifications, but JJ didn't care. Having six medals in one Games did not mean anywhere near as much to her as her best friend having the chance to defend her title.

Tomorrow was Aly's time to shine, and she did not regret giving her that chance.

Not one bit.


	129. Chapter 129

**A/N: Some Laurie because we love Laurie! Also this chapter took a really sad turn I wasn't expecting at the end, so sorry about that.**

* * *

"Hey, JJ? It's nearly half past nine… Nick said if you want something to eat before we go to the arena, you probably need to get up"

Blinking blearily in the sunlight streaming through the window, JJ lifted her head. Pushing the duvet away from her face, she saw Laurie's head poking around the doorframe of the room.

"Where is everyone?" she asked groggily.

"They're at the training hall. Aly and Simone are going straight to the arena afterwards, and Maddie's coming back here before we leave to watch the final"

"How come Maddie went?" JJ said in confusion, pushing herself and rubbing her eyes with her good hand.

"She's starting NCAA in the fall, she wants to keep her training up," Laurie chuckled.

"Oh of course," JJ mumbled. "Ok, give me like…ten minutes to get changed and then we can go eat"

"Sure thing," Laurie chirped, leaving the room and pulling the door shut behind her.

Fifteen minutes later, JJ and Laurie were heading down to the food hall to grab breakfast. Nick and Maggie had both opted out of joining them, having been awake and eaten earlier in the morning.

After getting something to eat, they found a table that was relatively away from the usual hustle and bustle of the court. JJ still felt as though she was half asleep, but even so, she felt more rested than she had in quite a while.

"Feels weird that the Games are almost over… I mean… I trained nearly my whole life with the ambition of going, and it's already done," Laurie mused as they ate.

JJ chuckled. "Trust me, even the second time around, I still feel exactly the same"

"Have you spoken to your family since last night?"

"Yeah, my brother and his wife are going home tomorrow morning, their dogs get really anxious when they're not home"

Laurie's eyes lit up. "What kind of dogs?"

JJ smiled. "Two Rhodesian Ridgebacks that are nearly bigger than me"

"Awww," Laurie gushed. "What are their names?"

"Thumbelina and Tinkerbell," JJ replied. Laurie laughed.

"That's so cute," she giggled as she buttered her toast. "But other than your brother, is the rest of your family staying for the closing ceremony?"

"Yeah, it's just Will, my mom, my grandma, and Will's parents, but only Will and my mom have tickets to the ceremony. My grandma and Will's parents are going to watch from the apartment. What about your parents, are they staying?"

Laurie nodded. "Yeah. My brother, Marcus, and my sister, Jelysa, both stayed at home in New Jersey, but they've been watching everything live. My parents weren't going to come to the closing ceremony because it was expensive, but I think the US Olympic Committee had some spare tickets going around"

They fell silent for a moment, both enjoying their food as athletes and coaches alike continued to mill around the hall.

"It's so cool that Will's parents came to watch you compete," Laurie said with a smile, breaking their lull. "How long have you been together?"

"Nearly four years," JJ replied. "We got together pretty much right after the Kellogg's Tour in 2012. But we've been best friends since we were about eight years old"

"That is so cute!" Laurie exclaimed, making JJ laugh. "Aw, it's like you guys were meant to be"

"Don't ever say that to my mom, she _loves_ to remind me how she knew we would get together way back when we were about 12"

Laurie laughed.

JJ looked at her phone. "We better get moving if we're going to watch floor"

Nodding, Laurie grabbed her apple from her tray. They got up, carrying their empty trays over to the cleaning stack, before heading back upstairs to meet with Maggie and Nick.

* * *

"Hey you"

Will grinned as a familiar set of arms snaked over his shoulders and down to his chest. Turning his head, he captured JJ's lips in a kiss, before shuffling over as she jumped the row to sit beside him, Laurie and Madison coming to sit on her other side.

"You doing ok?" Will asked, lifting an arm and putting it around JJ's shoulders as she laid her head on his shoulder.

"Yeah… kinda tired of people asking me that though," JJ replied softly. "I miss my dad… miss him like hell… but being here is helping"

Smiling, Will turned his head, kissing her temple as he gently took her injured hand in his.

"Did you get this checked last night?"

JJ nodded. "Stress fracture. Six weeks recovery maximum. So no full program for me for the first few shows of the Kellogg's Tour, but hopefully I'll be good to go real soon"

"You'll be fine," Will said warmly, pulling her a little closer as they settled in to watch the upcoming finals.

It had been a beautiful end to the artistic program of the Rio Games. JJ and Laurie had sung and danced their way through Simone's floor routine, partially knowing the choreography themselves, as well as cheering on their teammates. Madison had also been pretty vocal in her cheering, and all three girls had thoroughly enjoyed the remaining three finals.

At all other times, JJ had been sitting beside Will, their hands locked together, her head resting on his shoulder as they watched the competition unfold. Laurie kept looking over at them, smiling as she watched the young couple interacting.

In the end, Simone had waltzed away with her third gold medal of the Games, Aly right behind her for the silver medal. Amy Tinkler of Great Britain had dissolved into tears upon learning she had earned herself a bronze, and it was a small moment like that that reminded JJ to appreciate the spirit of the Olympics. It also helped reinforce the enormity of what she had achieved in Brazil.

After parting from Will with a sweet kiss, JJ had joined Laurie, Maddie, and their coaches in heading back to the Village. Aly and Simone were being taken to NBC headquarters for interviews, and they were going to be at least another two hours.

Wanting an early night after all the excitement of their week, Maddie headed straight down for dinner with her coach, Cecile, while JJ and Laurie made themselves comfortable on the balcony as the afternoon slowly began to fade into evening.

'You and Will are really cute," Laurie said after they'd been sitting there for a little while. "Is that how he is all the time?"

JJ grinned, nodding slowly. "Most of the time. He really is a sweetheart… but he also is a pain in the butt and he thinks he's really funny. You should see him and Aly together when we're just hanging out. They're _terrible_. I literally have an entire folder of selfies on my phone that are just the two of them causing havoc"

Laurie laughed. "Somehow, that really doesn't surprise me"

They were interrupted momentarily by a rowdy cheer coming from somewhere above them, followed by someone's show going sailing out across the courtyard. Both girls laughed, shaking their heads; it appeared some of the swimmers were letting off some steam.

"Hey, JJ… can I ask you something? Something that's… a little personal?"

Turning to look at Laurie as she leant back in her chair, JJ nodded, propping her feet up against the guard rail.

"I… well, I… this is entirely assumption, so correct me if I'm wrong, but I was… I was wondering how old you were when you… first had sex?"

Seeing how nervous the usually talkative Laurie was, JJ relaxed into a smile.

"Considering we've been together four years… your assumption is pretty safe," she chuckled. "I was eighteen. Why do you ask?"

"Well… I'm homeschooled. But I have a lot of friends in my local area who aren't. And some of them… well, they have boyfriends and they're starting to have sex. I guess I just kinda feel like I'm being left behind," Laurie said softly. "I know that that kind of normal stuff is a sacrifice I made to be where I am today, and I don't regret it… but it's almost like I'm in some sort of weird limbo"

JJ nodded in agreement. "Trust me, I felt the same way at your age. And I was still in the public school system. It's hard, because society kind of drills it into you that it's normal to be sexually active at sixteen, but… there really is no 'normal' time. It happens when you're ready for it, and whether you're sixteen or twenty eight, it shouldn't make a difference"

"How did you know you were ready?"

JJ took a moment, a thoughtful expression crossing her face. "You know, I don't know… I guess I just… knew. We'd only been together for about three months, but it just felt right. I guess I always knew he was the right person for me, you know?"

Laurie nodded, playing with her hands as she glanced out over the courtyard.

"Is sex weird?"

The bluntness of the question made JJ laugh, subsequently making a grin spread onto Laurie's face.

"Um… yeah, you know what, sometimes it is," JJ giggled. "There's weird… sounds… sensations… half the time I start crying after it's over, and apparently that's _completely normal_ -"

Laurie burst out laughing.

"- but yeah… sex is weird. Don't get me wrong… it's fun," JJ continued, a flush hitting her cheeks as Laurie giggled. "But it's freaking weird as well"

"So Will was your first?"

JJ nodded. "He's my first… everything. First real boyfriend, unless you count Aaron Slater in the third grade-"

Laurie laughed.

"- first kiss, first, and hopefully last, person I've ever slept with… it's rare to find something like what we have… but Laurie, oh my god… if you ever find it… don't let it go"

Laurie broke into a happy smile.

"You know JJ… I know you've been through a lot this year with your dad… I'm so glad you have someone like Will in your life. I was watching you two during the floor final… he makes you really happy"

JJ's eyes threatened to well up with tears right there. Since she'd finished competing, the thoughts of her dad had become near overwhelming, and now, Laurie's comment was pushing her right to the edge.

"There's something… incredible about him," JJ muttered in agreement. "The night my dad died… I sent Will a text to say that I needed him…"

Seeing JJ's eyes growing brighter in the dying light, Laurie pulled her chair closer, reaching out and taking JJ's good hand in hers.

"I was curled up in my bathroom, just crying… I don't know how long I was in there, but all I really remember is Will coming in out of nowhere. He didn't say anything… he just held me, in the most loving hug he's ever given me. He didn't have to say anything… just him being there was enough," JJ said quietly, tears starting to spill over her cheeks. Lifting her face, she looked up at Laurie, her blue eyes swimming in tears.

"He's made the most horrible part of my life… just that little bit easier… and I hope you find someone like that one day Laurie. I hope all of you do… because I don't know what I'd do without him"

Biting back tears of her own, Laurie rose from her seat. Without saying a word, she closed the gap between them, wrapping JJ in a comforting hug.

They stayed like that for nearly five minutes, the only sounds being JJ's quiet sobs as everything she'd pushed away for over a month slowly started to come back to her. In the dying light of the afternoon, she was glad that Laurie showed maturity beyond her years. The comfort her teammates offered was working more wonders for her than they ever could have known.


	130. Chapter 130

**A/N: This one's a hard one, but I hope I did it justice!**

* * *

The day had started off with an atmospheric high. Unbeknownst to the team, or more specifically, Simone, Hoda Kobt had flown a special guest down to Rio to meet the girls.

They had been taken into a room at the studio, only to have Zac Efron walk in just a few minutes later. Simone had screamed and hidden behind Aly, while Laurie had been the first to approach him for a hug, completely star struck.

They had spent roughly an hour just hanging out with Zac, who JJ had to appreciate as a genuinely sweet guy (who was also incredibly attractive in person). Simone had had the most fun of all, taking plenty of selfies for her Snapchat story, and after the initial shock of meeting her hero, had practically jabbered his ear off the entire time.

Now, JJ and Nick were set to have an interview with the Rio outpost of Fox News, with a man named Jack Hamilton. Nick was a little excited – he'd never been interviewed before. For JJ however, it was old news.

Seated together on a little black couch, they smiled as the cameras started rolling.

"So today we have joining us, the Olympic gymnastics all-around champion, Jennifer Jareau, and her longtime coach, Nicholas Romero, thanks for joining us today!"

"Thanks for having us," Nick replied with a smile.

"So," Jack said, leaning back with a smile. "Second Olympics! Has the experience been different this time around, or largely the same?"

Nick looked at JJ, gesturing for her to go first.

"Ah, it's been different, you know, I've had a lot going on outside of gymnastics that has made it a very different experience, but the actual process of getting here and competing felt very much the same"

"What about you, Nick, has it been the same for you?"

Nick chuckled. "Other than actually knowing what goes on at the Olympics compared to London, it's been pretty much the same. But still an incredibly enjoyable experience"

"Nick, you've produced one of America's greatest gymnasts, let alone the most decorated gymnast in America... what's your secret?" Jack asked with a grin.

"No secrets," Nick said with a laugh, holding up his hands. "I think we just lucked out. The coach/athlete relationship JJ and I have is very strong. We work very well together, and we understand each other, which is especially important when you have an athlete like JJ who _does_ have a lot going on outside the gym. But mostly? JJ is an incredible athlete. She has an amazing work ethic, she knows what she wants, and she'll work until she gets it. There's no secrets. Just solid, hard work"

Jack smiled, looking at JJ.

"How does it feel to have beaten the great Simone Biles?"

"Still doesn't feel real," JJ laughed. "I hope it eventually sinks in when I get home, but for now, it just doesn't even feel like it happened"

"What about your dad? That's something only very recent, do you think you're doing ok in spite of that?"

JJ nodded. "I think so... I mean, there's still a lot to work through. But I know I made him proud out there"

Jack nodded, leaning forward slightly. His expression had changed, to one that was sombre... even dark.

"Do you regret spending most of your time training for the Olympics rather than spending time with your father when he was dying?"

A weight that felt like a lump of ice sank into JJ's stomach as she looked up at Jack, stunned.

"No… I…-"

"Are you okay with having sacrificed your time with him just so you could win another medal? Because at the end of the day, that medal is just an object… is it really worth everything you've given up?"

"You need to stop," Nick said, his voice suddenly dark and threatening.

The weight in her stomach felt bogged down. It was like his words had immediately unleashed all the grief, pain, and anger she'd been holding on to since July.

Seconds later, she was in tears. They came like tidal waves, flooding down her cheeks with relentless vigour. Through her waterlogged vision, she saw Jack's mouth moving, and just a moment later, she watched as Nick leapt out of his seat, brandishing his fist as the set security case racing out onto the floor. They weren't fast enough, however, for Nick had already thrown a hard punch, socking Jack right in the eye.

"Sir! SIR! Back away!" one of them said menacingly to Nick.

Muttering darkly, Nick pulled JJ up from her chair, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and hustling her away from the cameras.

When they had made it off the set and out into one of the deserted hallways, Nick stopped walking, turning and pulling JJ to him as he tried to comfort her.

She barely recognised the distraught sobs escaping her mouth. Suddenly, the weight of the five medals around her neck felt like a noose, dragging her down to the depths of hell with every second they remained there.

"I should've been with him," she sobbed into Nick's chest. "What have I done? What have I done?"

"Shh," Nick said gently, his eyes burning brightly as JJ's heartache reached his ears. "Don't you dare listen to a word they say, JJ, you had a dream and you went after it, and you _know_ that was exactly what your dad wanted you to do"

"I wanna go home," JJ sobbed, her tears soaking the front of Nick's shirt. "I've had enough… I wanna go home"

"Ok kiddo," Nick breathed. "I'll arrange for us to go home"

* * *

"What happened?" Aimee asked incredulously.

Nick was sitting on the couch in the main area of the team complex, his head in his hands. Surrounding him were the coaches, the other four girls, Marta Karolyi, Rhonda Faehn, and Steve Penny.

"Nick… I know you were trying to protect JJ… but we can't let this slide. You attacked a reporter. We'll discuss it back in the States, but you're looking at a six month suspension from coaching on the floor at competitions,"

"Fine. I literally don't care Steve, suspend me for a year if you have to! You didn't see how devastated she looked when he insinuated she cared more about a medal than her dad! Seriously! She's been fighting that internal battle with herself _all year_ , but anyone who knows her knows how much her dad meant to her!"

"Ok calm down," Rhonda said firmly. "Is JJ ok?"

"No," Nick replied without missing a beat. "She cried all the way back, she thinks she's made a huge mistake and that her dad died upset with her. Nothing I said could change her mind"

"Oh no," Rhonda sighed, running a hand through her hair.

"She wants to go home. And far be it from any of us to try and stop her. I'm changing our flights tomorrow and I'm getting her back home as soon as possible," Nick said quietly.

Without a word, Aly slipped away from the group, heading for the door that led to the stairs. Hurrying up to the second level of their complex, she burst into the quiet apartment.

Heading straight for the closed door of the bedroom she and JJ were sharing, she slowly pushed it open. The room was empty, save for the mess of their clothes they'd created that morning.

A pang of sadness hit Aly's heart when she saw JJ's medals cast carelessly onto her bed. Whatever the interviewer had asked her must have removed all the happiness and pride from her achievements, and suddenly, Aly wanted to strangle the person who'd brought all that grief and pain back into her friend's heart.

"JJ?" she called softly.

No answer.

But as she turned around, the muffled sound of someone crying floated towards her from the bathroom door.

"JJ?" she said, her voice a little quieter this time. Approaching the door, she pushed down on the handle, but found it locked.

"JJ... can you let me in?"

"No," was JJ's sharp reply from the other side.

"Well, if you don't let me in, I'm gonna have to kick it down, and then I'll tell them it was you, so it's your choice. I'm coming in either way," Aly replied.

The lock clicked and a moment later, the door swung open, revealing JJ standing before her. Her face was pale, but her eyes were red and puffy, tears stains down her cheeks.

"I'm sorry," Aly whispered, reaching out and wrapping her in a hug. The gentle gesture moved JJ to tears again, the sobs shaking her body as they both sank down onto the edge of the bathtub.

"You shouldn't let what he said get to you," Aly said softly. "You know your dad... you know what he wanted"

"What if he wanted me to stay?" JJ sobbed. "He's the kind of person who would have told less than the truth to protect me... what if he just... told me to go and make the team, and I... I just blindly followed along?"

"You wouldn't have done it if you didn't truly want it," Aly reminded her. "And you wouldn't have done it if you didn't truly believe your dad was supporting you all the way"

JJ fell silent, burying her face in her hands again.

After a little while, Aly sighed.

"Ok, JJ, you know what I think? I think you're so used to hiding everything you feel from everyone who cares that you don't even realise there's an ugly side to your grieving. Whatever that guy said to you is bullshit, it's all bullshit. What do you really want to do? Do you wanna sit here and have a meltdown about it, or do you wanna get your feelings out in a more... productive manner?"

JJ looked up at Aly, somewhat surprised at the bluntness of her proposition.

"I know Nick socked him, but you really wanted to punch that dude," Aly said knowingly. "Didn't you?"

Slowly, JJ nodded.

"I got back, and...," she started, her voice raspy from all the crying. "I just... I just wanted to hurl my medals through the window. They represent some of the biggest moments of my life... and that bastard reduced them to nothing more than scrap metal"

"Come here," Aly said, pulling JJ back to her feet and leading her out of the bathroom.

Once they were back in the room, Aly let go of JJ's hands, leaving her standing near the door while she walked over to her bed. Picking up the five medals, she carefully wrapped and tucked each one away in JJ's backpack, before zipping the backpack into JJ's duffel, and shoving the duffel under her bed.

"Now that they're out of harm's way...," she trailed off, reaching over and picking up a pillow, which she pressed into JJ's hands. "Go for it"

JJ looked from the pillow in her hands, up to Aly, confusion written all over her face.

"You can't let this anger live inside you forever. Whatever you're angry about, whether it's your dad, or that asshole, or the stupid people online... take it out on the room. The bed, the wall, our bags, me, whatever you need to hit, go for it. I guarantee you'll get it out a lot more effectively than sitting in the bathroom and hiding your tears"

Silence fell between them as JJ looked awkwardly around the room. The words from the interviewer's mouth were still playing on a loop in her head, and it was taking everything she had to try and get them to stop.

Then his face flashed into her mind, ignorant and cruel, and a flash of rage bubbled in her stomach.

Swinging her arms up, she nailed the end of Aly's bed with the pillow, a cry of frustration escaping her mouth. Just as quickly, she pummelled Aly's bedside table, her own bed, the chest of drawers, everything she could find. In the rage that was suddenly seeping from every part of her body, she even landed a few swings on Aly, who patiently braced herself and shielded her face from the impact.

The duvets were ripped from the beds, the book Aly had been reading went flying across the room, as did JJ's podium jacket and the pile of freshly laundered clothes sitting on the end of Aly's bed.

Letting go of the pillow, JJ whirled around, throwing a solid punch at the wall beside the door. The wall barely budged, but her knuckles were less fortunate.

"ARGH!" she groaned, sucking air through her teeth in a sharp hiss as she grabbed her knuckles and collapsed back against the wall.

"Ok, I think that's enough," Aly said gently, kneeling down beside her and taking her bruised hand in her own. JJ let out a sniff, running her left hand through her hair.

"Why did my dad have to die?" she whispered, tears welling in her eyes again.

"Life's a bitch," Aly said softly, reaching out and brushing JJ's hair back from her face. "I know you miss him... I would too... but what everyone says is true... he is so proud of you Jayje"

Reaching over, Aly grabbed her clean washcloth from the pile of clothes strewn across the floor.

"You need to take me to whoever taught you to punch... that was a seriously good throw," she teased lightly as she pressed the washcloth to JJ's scraped knuckles.

Looking up, JJ caught Aly's eye. At the smirk on her friend's face, all she could do was start to laugh.

After all the heartache the day had brought, it felt incredibly good to laugh.


	131. Chapter 131

**A/N: Short compared to the last bunch. Might get a little dry from here on for a while, but I'll do my best.**

* * *

 _ **olympichampion: I want to personally beat the living daylights out of Jack Hamilton, how cruel of him to do that to JJ on live television!**_

 _ **jareaumanar: I'm starting a donation page to raise money. We're getting Nick a trip to fucking Bora Bora or something with his wife, because he literally deserves the world for socking that bastard, WE DON'T DESERVE THE CINNAMON ROLL THAT IS NICK ROMERO!**_

 _ **istanromeros: Niiiiiick. My maaan.**_

 _ **flipflytumble: never did I think I would live to see the day where a USA Gymnastics coach punches out a Fox News reporter at the OLYMPIC FUCKING GAMES**_

 _ **from-london-to-rio: I hope JJ knows we got her back. I hope Nick knows I think he's a motherfucking LEGEND**_

* * *

"JJ?"

Simone's voice was quiet… which was unusual for the younger girl to say the least. She was looking around the doorframe as JJ sorted through all her things, slowly packing them one by one into her bag. She looked up at the sound of Simone's voice, a tired smile crossing her face.

"Hey. Where were you this morning?"

Simone bit back a smile, pushing the door open further and coming into the room to take a seat on the edge of Aly's bed.

"At Team USA headquarters with Aimee… they wanted to ask me something," she said softly, picking absently at the duvet on Aly's bed.

JJ lifted her head slowly, her hands freezing halfway to her bag. They were three days away from the Closing Ceremony. She herself had been called to Team USA House in London… three days before the Closing Ceremony.

"I've been selected to carry the flag in the Closing Ceremony," Simone said, her voice thick with emotion and pride as the smile she'd been fighting back finally made its way onto her face. "I haven't told the others yet because I haven't seen them… but I knew you'd understand what a big deal it is"

Getting up, JJ was smiling as she pulled Simone up to her feet and into a hug.

"Simone, that's amazing," she breathed. She hated how forced it sounded; she was genuinely thrilled for her friend. But the previous day's experience had left her feeling physically and emotionally drained.

"I wanted to tell you now, because I know you're heading home, and I wanted you to hear it from me rather than social media… I don't know, it's just more exciting that way," Simone said warmly as they broke apart. At that, JJ managed a small chuckle.

"Yes, it definitely is," she agreed.

"Do you need any help packing?" Simone asked.

"Uh, no, I-"

She dropped her sentence immediately as a thought occurred to her. One of her best friends was going to have her moment in front of the entire world audience, and here she was, effectively running away.

From what though? She was going to get home and it was going to be the same. People would ask inconsiderate questions. She was still going to grieve, she was still going to hurt. Nothing was going to change between Rio and Pennsylvania… except for the fact that in Rio she had her teammates to distract her. She had the festivities of the Olympics to provide an outlet.

"JJ?" Simone said, breaking JJ from her thoughts with a confused frown.

"Where's Nick?"

Simone shrugged. "No idea, I've only seen Marta and Aimee today, we were gone pretty early. Why?"

"I need to… he's going to change our flights, I don't want him to anymore," JJ said hurriedly. "I want to stay for the Closing Ceremony"

"JJ," Simone said gently, reaching out to steady her friend. "Don't stay just because I'll be carrying the flag. If you want to go home, you should go. You need to be with your family right now"

"It's not just that… no matter where I go, this… pain, it's going to be the same, in fact, it's probably going to be worse at home… I shouldn't make a snap decision based on one dickhead," JJ replied, getting a giggle out of Simone.

"Besides," JJ said softly, "you guys are my family too"

Simone smiled.

"That's really sweet Jayje… but if you want to stay you better move your ass and go find Nick, because he's not here, that's for sure"

* * *

After much mad running around, JJ had managed to locate Nick in time. They were remaining ticketed on the United Airlines Olympian flight leaving Rio on August 22nd.

"What are you doing?" Aly asked curiously as JJ tapped away on her laptop after dinner that evening.

"Taking risks," JJ replied flatly, getting half a laugh out of Aly.

"Ok… seriously, what are you doing?"

"I decided to take a gamble… I'm opening my ask box on Tumblr," JJ replied, looking at Aly with a grin. "It'll either be really fun or a total disaster"

"Do people even know you have a Tumblr?"

JJ shook her head. "I mostly just lurk to see what they say about us. But I'm gonna start making some posts that clue them in"

Aly laughed. "Oh you are evil. They're gonna realize it's you and have about fifty heart attacks"

"Only if they've been shit talking me," JJ giggled.

Coming to sit beside JJ, Aly gave her a warm smile. "You seem better today"

Nodding slowly, JJ closed her laptop.

"Mostly just… savouring what's left of this. I'm going to have a hot mess to deal with when I get home… so I'm enjoying this while it lasts"

Without warning, Aly wrapped her arms around JJ, giving her a tight squeeze.

"You'll be fine. I know you will. You're Jennifer Jareau, you're tougher than any of us put together"

Smiling, JJ leant her head onto Aly's shoulder.

"Thanks Aly"


	132. Chapter 132

**A/N: Enjoy! The article below was taken from The Gymternet, and edited to suit the story, author credit is listed below it!**

* * *

 _It was pretty clear after the Sydney Games that_ _something_ _needed to change for the U.S. women's program. Drastically._

 _Between the team gold in 1996 and finishing off the podium four years later, the U.S. women struggled on the international level, resulting in the beginnings of the camp system at the Karolyi Ranch in Texas. The problem was that there were too many cooks in the kitchen and none of them really knew what they were doing, and so they traveled to Sydney as a group of individual gymnasts with individual goals and no cohesion that would help them perform well as a team._

 _With Bela Karolyi out of the picture and Martha taking over the reins in 2001, she made crucial changes that turned the program around, putting an emphasis on teamwork over anything else. Coaches now have the opportunity to learn from one another, the gymnasts forge relationships and friendships that go beyond their monthly meetings, and while there are still dreams of all-around and event medals, nothing is more important than team gold._

 _The effects of the new system were almost instantaneous, with the U.S. women winning the team gold at worlds in 2003, and they haven't finished off the medal podium since, including five consecutive team gold medals from 2011 to 2016. Though this was Martha Karolyi's final Olympics, her system has become a machine, putting in place a structure that not only ensures success from the current crop of elites, but that the program will be secure for the generations to follow._

 _With a total of eleven out of eleven possible medals in Rio, the "Final Five" — a name chosen by team members Simone Biles, Aly Raisman, Jennifer Jareau, Madison Kocian, and Laurie Hernandez to reflect their standing as the final Olympic team to be coached by Karolyi — earned the most medals for any country at a single Olympic Games since the Soviet team brought home ten in 1972, and the most_ _ever_ _by a U.S. team. Karolyi will go out with a bang, and the team dynamic she designed will continue to forge toward a level of dominance once seen by the Soviets and Romanians._

 _Beginning with qualifications, the U.S. women were about as good as we could have expected, finishing nearly eleven points ahead of the second-place team, taking the top three all-around spots with Biles and Jareau qualifying over Raisman into the all-around final, and qualifying two gymnasts into every event final, a first for the US team. If the two-per-country rule didn't exist, the team would've had three gymnasts in the all-around, Jareau would've reached the floor final (she qualified third to Biles and Raisman's first and second), and all four who competed beam in qualifications would have made it. In other words, they killed it._

 _Results aside, the U.S. women were calm and confident, with even the weakest gymnast on each event performing routines that would've been among the top routines for most other countries. If there were nerves, no one showed them, with Biles looking perhaps a bit more serious than she would at any other meet, though she had four years worth of expectations on her shoulders._

 _Biles followed through beautifully, doing her job to lead in every field but bars, her "weak" event, if you can call a 14th place finish in the most stacked bars field ever "weak." She's gotten so good there, in fact, that she was ultimately tapped to perform on the event in the team final, something Karolyi had never done._

 _While an injury to Hernandez was the official reasoning, I honestly believe Biles is actually a better bars worker than her young teammate when it comes to consistency. Though she's gorgeous there, Hernandez has shown all season that she's not the most reliable on the event, fully hitting only about three of her seven routines performed prior to the Games. Because her form is so solid, she covers up well, but at the Olympic Trials less than a month before Rio, Hernandez had a costly mistake in one set and left out a skill in another, lowering her start value by four tenths._

 _With the Olympics her first major international competition, Hernandez had enough to deal with, and risking her on bars was never going to be an option. As we saw with the U.S. women's qualification performance at worlds in Glasgow a year ago, one mistake can have a domino effect, and while nothing could've really threatened the team's massive lead, it still sets a poor tone for the meet, and that's not something Karolyi wanted to happen in her final Games before retiring._

 _Competing bars in the team final meant Biles would be the team's only gymnast to perform on all four events in the team final, just as Douglas did four years earlier. Like Douglas, Biles tackled the challenge like a pro, leading the team once again on all events but bars, where her 14.8 — a good score given her comparatively low difficulty there — was the lowest the team would count in the final. Aside from that and Hernandez's 14.833 on floor, every other score surpassed 15._

 _In the team final, Kocian performed only on bars, but still managed to prove her worth by nearly reaching 16 on the event with her excellent execution, while Hernandez and Raisman acted as sort of 'opposites', with Raisman performing on vault and floor, and Hernandez on beam and floor._

 _Beam was Hernandez's standout, as predicted, and she also put up clean work on floor. For such a young gymnast — Hernandez turned 16 this summer — she performed admirably and without letting the pressure get to her, enjoying the ride and smiling bigger than anyone when she stood up on the podium with the gold around her neck._

 _Team leader and veteran Raisman put up the second-highest vault and floor scores, her Amanar landings continuing to improve as the meet went on. Remember Jesolo, when she sat this vault and fans begged her to downgrade? Somehow, somewhere, Raisman somehow got complete control over the mental aspect of the sport in just a couple of months, building with each meet until she got to Rio and dominated._

 _In the floor final, coming in as the reigning Olympic Champion, the silver medal was Raisman's to lose. She often jokes that Biles is never going to let her win floor, and Rio was no different. However, it was a stellar performance from both ladies, and Raisman was thrilled to win silver behind Biles on her best event, a nice follow up to her gold in London. Raisman's silver on floor was probably one of my favorite routines of the Games. Yes, she has some form issues here and there and she's not the most artistic gymnast in the bunch, but if you think a low back leg on a tour jete half should automatically disqualify you from a medal on floor, I have some serious issues with you. For me, Raisman exemplifies passion and hard work. Never the most naturally gifted, Raisman has spent most of her entire career working to improve, fully acknowledging her faults and weaknesses while trying to make them better._

 _I think this floor routine was the best she's done it since her comeback, with a special focus on her landings and the overall value of her performance, which really had the crowd involved and loving everything she did. That's the definition of artistry. She can connect with people in a way most gymnasts can't, so while she's not a ballerina princess and while there are always issues with flexed feet or bad leaps, she owns what she does and puts forth so much effort to showcase her strengths while embracing and working on her weaknesses._

 _The biggest talking point of this team in Rio was surprisingly not the young superstar who has casually walked through the quad with all-around titles at every world championships; it was her older and just as fantastic teammate, Jennifer Jareau, or JJ as we all know her._

 _Jareau came into the Olympics having just lost her father to an aggressive form of cancer, and despite being the best in the country behind Biles in the all-around, on vault, and arguably on floor, and the best in the world on beam, many wondered if her grief was going to undo her when push came to shove. Certainly it seemed that way at Trials, when after being named to the team, she broke down in an interview and subsequently left the building with her coach in order to get home to her father._

 _But she delivered. In the team final, she competed all events except floor; a surprising line-up decision from Karolyi, considering Jareau has a floor routine that can match and even best that of Raisman, but one that made sense after the fact. With everything else going on in Jareau's life, Karolyi believed that competing all-around three times in five days would be too much for Jareau to handle, and opted for Hernandez to take to the floor in her place._

 _The decision paid off, because the all-around final brought just about every gymnastics fan around to a complete screeching halt. Biles' dominance in the all-around suddenly vanished, and from the second rotation onwards, Jareau was leading the pack. It was a tooth and nail fight to the very end, with Biles scrabbling to make up the difference. Perhaps she believed she could make it up on floor, as I most certainly did. But then Jareau took to the floor. After a momentary freeze which led to her restarting her routine, she went and performed the routine of a lifetime, including the Moors pass that has been a sporadic showing from her all summer._

 _When she broke down on the floor in tears at the end of the routine, I wasn't entirely expecting it, however, I wasn't all that surprised. Jareau has always been very cool, calm, and collected as a competitor, but this year has entirely turned the tables on her. If anyone deserved a meltdown at the end of the competition, it was this young lady for sure._

 _As for Biles, it was one of her best all-around performances. I am often very "ho-hum" about Biles as a gymnast because she is_ _so_ _good, you get used to her unmatched level of excellence, and really the only time things get interesting is when she makes a mistake…and then_ _still_ _wins. But there were no real mistakes in this final, and even though it didn't end the way we expected, this was still the culmination of everything we wanted from Biles since she emerged on the senior scene._

 _In the end, the title went to Jareau, who broke down in tears again when the scores changed and her name remained at the top of the scoreboard. It was a ridiculously close finish between the two, and it could have easily gone to either one of them, but there is not a single person out there, Biles included, who believes Jareau didn't deserve that gold medal. When Jareau lifted her medal up to the skies at the conclusion of the national anthem, it hammered home to everyone watching just how much it meant to her, and even though she narrowly missed out on her own dream, Biles wholeheartedly agrees that the medal has gone to the right gymnast._

 _With two golds already under her belt, Jareau went into event finals as the favorite on beam, and a medal contender on vault and bars. In the end, she came away with three more medals, equalling her own record of five medals at a single Olympic Games. She also broke the domestic gold medal record of two gold medals at a single Games, last held by herself, Raisman, and Gabby Douglas at the 2012 London Olympic Games._

 _On vault, she took silver behind Biles with a strong Amanar, easily her strongest of the entire Games, and her Yurchenko half on full twist. The second vault was so clean, it was reminiscent of McKayla, although this time, the silver was claimed with a nailed landing as opposed to a fall. Jareau even said before the Games that she hoped to make the final and land the vault as redemption for her 2012 teammate, who fell and lost gold after being the hot favourite. Biles won the final by over seven tenths thanks to her clean and solid efforts on her Amanar and Cheng, the latter a vault she waited to unveil until this year, opting for the easier Lopez at previous world championships. Her combined difficulty level came up behind two of her competitors and tied two more, so she really proved how important it is to come in with clean execution._

 _My favorite thing about her vaults was that she actually looked consistently_ _better_ _on her Cheng than on the Amanar, where she has been taking several large hops on the landings. The Cheng may be the more difficult of the two, but the landing is a bit easier to spot, and Biles nails it almost every time. Her execution score on the Cheng actually outscored her Amanar execution score by 0.033, so I hope if slash_ _when_ _she returns to competition, she makes that her all-around vault._

 _Jareau also clinched bronze in the uneven bars final, again proving that she can always pull out a good bars routine when there's a medal on the line. She was among the pack fighting for that third medal, but in the end, her natural inclination for good execution helped her rise above the others. Kocian gave one of her standard robotically beautiful routines to earn a 15.833, less than a tenth away from gold behind Mustafina, who was slightly behind in execution but had a tenth in difficulty over Kocian after adding back her eponymous dismount. Still, Kocian couldn't have done better if she tried, proving repeatedly this summer how good she is there, and she was more than happy with the silver._

 _Beam was where things got interesting. With the previous Olympic title and the last four World titles under her belt, Jareau was the clear favourite to win again. And she did so, with a routine worth a staggering 16.133, the highest recorded international beam score since the Code was revamped in 2009. Even though it turned out that she had somehow fractured her wrist at the end of the routine, Jareau was overjoyed with the result, and as she should be; she has been far and above the beam field for years now, and the gold was well deserved._

 _Beam was the one event I thought would be where Biles would struggle, based on the fact that when she's tired or a little nervous, beam is where she makes mistakes. It happened a couple of times this summer, and it's happened at worlds in the past, so after making it through her wolf turn and barani, normally the skills she finds tricky, I assumed she was in the clear. Perhaps she did as well, or maybe she was understandably exhausted, or most likely, she's a 19-year-old human being who isn't going to be perfect at everything she does._

 _Either way, after putting her hands down on her punch front, Biles still earned a 14.733 for her routine, locking up a bronze medal. It wasn't the four golds she was expected to reach, but Biles didn't really care, telling the press that this was her first Olympic Games and she was leaving with five Olympic medals. "I think you guys wanted the four golds more than I did," she joked, alluding to the pressure put on her months before she was even named to the team._

 _Biles also got gold on floor, which was probably more of a sure thing than her all-around gold, as it so turned out. Coming into the competition, Biles was a half point stronger than Raisman and Jareau on this event, and a full point ahead of literally everyone else. Because she's so perfect at literally everything, I always get on Biles about her landings, and that was really the only issue she had in this final, but given her degree of difficulty and just how solid and confident she was with the routine, I_ _think_ _I can forgive them. She was awesome, and secured her spot in history with this final win of the Games._

 _The baby of the team, Hernandez handled her Olympics like a true pro. I remember seeing her compete at the 2011 WOGA Classic, back when she was just ten years old. At the time, I was writing for The Couch Gymnast, and emailed my editor regularly, following Hernandez's career as she fought to reach the junior international elite level. I found one of those emails from June 2012 after Hernandez competed at the American Classic, and I figured I'd share it with you because it showed how even then, before she had big difficulty, something about her suggested future star._

" _I'm obsessed with this one kid I saw at the WOGA elite qualifier last year, Laurie Hernandez of Monmouth…she's ELEVEN and hit around a 54 at yesterday's qualifier! Super strong beam and amazing floor…unfortunately she fell and didn't qualify to nationals, but I'm hoping she makes it through at the U.S. Classic! I am doing a little blurb about her anyway in my recap because she definitely seems like one to watch…and she'll be turning 16 literally weeks before the Olympics in Rio. Yes, I'm already playing the 2016 guessing game!"_

 _I was wrong about almost every other choice I made for 2016 (brb crying about Katelyn Ohashi forever), but seeing Hernandez go from a kid who struggled to make nationals to an Olympic champion has been one of the highlights of my gymnastics watching and writing career. With Hernandez, you just_ _knew_ _she'd get there, and seeing her enjoy such a fabulous Olympic Games after the ups and downs of her junior career brought everything full circle. I hope we can hold onto her for the coming quad as well._

 _Biles and Jareau are undisputedly the brightest stars in a team full of standouts. Biles achieved in her first Olympics what few others have, and should she stick around for 2020, we can certainly hope for more._

 _Jareau is now the most decorated American gymnast in history on all counts, with ten Olympic medals to Shannon Miller's seven. She also has an Olympic medal in all six finals disciplines, and double medals on bars and beam. She's the first American to win team, all-around, and event gold at the same Olympics, and was the first to win three golds at a single Games, closely followed by Biles with her floor gold the following day. I've been a huge fan of Jareau's her entire career, not only because of her incredible gymnastics, but because of how kind, down to earth, and open she is as a person as well. I hope she sticks around for one more run at the Olympics, if only to widen that huge Olympic lead, but if this was her last Olympic appearance, it's been an incredible one for sure._

 _The U.S. women will stay in Rio through the closing ceremony before traveling home, where they'll land in New York City for interviews and appearances as a pit stop on their way home. With eleven medals between them, they will return as the most decorated U.S. women's gymnastics team of all time, just 16 years after the team walked away empty-handed (though they later were rewarded with team bronze after the Chinese team was stripped of its team medal due to age falsification)._

 _It's the "started from the bottom now we here" aspect to their story that illustrates not only how strong this team is, but how much has gone on behind the scenes of the women's program, and the two stories can't be told separate of one another. The Final Five will go down in history as Karolyi's last — and best — Olympic team, but the U.S. women's program will continue on long after Karolyi's retirement thanks to the efforts made to take them from a random collection of talented individuals to a true team. That is Martha Karolyi's legacy, and why the U.S. women will continue to excel beyond her._

 _ **Article by Lauren Hopkins**_

* * *

Just as Lauren's article had foretold, the girls had been swept into a media storm upon arriving home in the United States. Having experienced it after London, Aly and JJ were a little more prepared than the other girls, but it was still exhausting nonetheless.

After the flurry of appearances, they had all parted ways from New York to head home.

Whereas she had wanted nothing more than to go home after the disastrous Fox News interview, JJ was now dreading it. For six weeks, it had been almost blissful to be thrown headlong into the Olympics, as it had provided her with a distraction from her grief and heartache.

But now, being home, it was time to face it.

Head on.

After being swarmed at the airport by every gymnast local to Pittsburgh, JJ, Will, Theresa, and Sandy had all headed back to the Jareau household. JJ had parted ways with Nick at the airport after a long and tight hug; after London, she had already known she wanted to continue on. Now, she wasn't sure what her future held.

As she followed Will into the house, her backpack slung over her shoulder, she let out a breath she didn't realise she'd been holding.

Everywhere she looked just brought painful reminders of her father to the forefront of her mind. The father who had helped raise her into the person she was, the father who had doted on her from day one... the father who had wholeheartedly supported her every step of her career and yet hadn't gotten the chance to see what was arguably the greatest achievement of it.

Pictures of his smiling face loomed from every angle, as well as the faint smell of his favourite cologne. He'd always smelled the same, for as long as JJ could remember. The cologne, as well as a hint of dark chocolate (his favourite), and spearmint toothpaste. The scent was stronger than she remembered before leaving for camp... almost as if he was going to jump out at any moment and wrap his arms around her in a loving hug.

But he wasn't going to. Letting her backpack fall slowly to the ground, she knew what was coming when she felt the lump forming in her throat. It was real. It hadn't been a bad dream that Rio had allowed her to escape.

He was gone.

Like a flood escaping her, the suppressed grief that had been bubbling inside her since her father's death suddenly vaulted to the surface. A strangled sob escaped her lips, tears cascading down her pale cheeks as her legs collapsed beneath her.

She couldn't stop shaking. The broken sobs coming from her mouth didn't even sound human, and she was so blinded by tears that she didn't immediately see someone kneeling before her.

"It's ok baby," came her mother's soft voice in her ear as a pair of arms wrapped around her. "I know"

She couldn't speak, instead only able to clutch onto her mother as the tears came like a deluge. Her chest was hurting, half of it the physical ache from how hard she was crying, the other half pure, unadulterated grief.

"I know," Sandy breathed through tears of her own, her own heart breaking as she saw her daughter's grief unfolding in front of her.

However messy this process was going to be, they all knew one thing for sure.

It definitely wasn't going to be easy.

* * *

Numb, tired, and heartbroken, JJ had crawled into bed and slept most of the afternoon. While Theresa and Sandy had talked meaningfully over cups of coffee, Will had gone for a run, before returning to the corner of JJ's bedroom where he quietly and somewhat distractedly worked on some of his coursework while JJ slept.

It was late, nearly midnight, when she finally woke up again, somewhat groggy and still exhausted.

"Hey sleepyhead," Will said softly, tucking her hair back out of her eyes.

"What time is it?" JJ mumbled, blindly pushing his hand away as she settled back into the comfort of her bed, her eyes already drifting closed.

"Nearly midnight," Will replied. "I'm just finishing some work and then I'm going to sleep. Are you hungry?"

JJ shook her head, pulling the blankets back up towards her chin.

"I'm right here if you need anything," he assured her, watching sadly as she started to drift back off to sleep.

It was breaking his heart to see JJ hurting as badly as she was. All he wished for, more than anything, was to be able to take that pain away.


	133. Chapter 133

**A/N: Enjoy!**

* * *

The following morning dawned all too soon for JJ. In the dark and early hours, she was awakened by a sickening feeling in the pit of her stomach, one that seemed to worsen the moment she opened her eyes.

Seconds later, she threw the covers off herself, practically flying across the room to her bathroom. She was already gagging as she barreled through the door. Making it to the toilet bowl just in time, she upended the contents of her stomach. Considering she hadn't eaten in nearly twenty four hours, it was mostly water, and soon, she was only dry heaving.

Wiping her mouth on the back of her hand, she flushed the toilet as she stood up. Her entire body ached as she dragged herself over to the sink and turned the faucet. Cool water ran over her hands, seeming to reinvigorate her from the inside out. Dipping her head, she splashed some onto her face, before rinsing her mouth of the acrid taste of vomit.

After drying her hands and face on the hand towel, she quietly left the bathroom, pulling the door closed behind her and shuffling back across to her bed. Will was still sound asleep, sprawled on his back with one arm flung above his head. His hair was sticking in all directions, his mouth slightly open as he slept peacefully.

Sliding back under the covers, JJ curled up on her side facing Will. She was almost touching him, but still maintained her separation.

She didn't know if what she wanted was to be held and comforted, or if she wanted to deal with everything on her own.

But, she thought as her eyes started to feel heavy again, right now, she just wanted to sleep. If anything… she just wanted to escape the weight of grief for a few more hours.

* * *

"I don't think she's coping very well"

Will's soft statement was accompanied by the sounds of JJ retching in the upstairs bathroom, making her grandmother frown sadly as she walked over to the coffee machine.

"I half expected this," Sandy admitted quietly from her seat at the table. Her thin hands were wrapped tightly around her mug, every bone and vein accentuated against her pale skin. It hadn't escaped Will's notice that since the conclusion of the Olympics, the thin, tired look had returned to Sandy's face. It seemed as though the grief had settled rather heavily onto her shoulders as well.

"I just don't know what to do… how to help her," Will said sadly, running a hand through his hair. "And every time I _do_ try to help her… she pushes me away"

"I'm going to go and make sure she's alright," Theresa said, setting her mug down on the counter and swiftly excusing herself from the room.

Sighing, Sandy got up, crossing the kitchen to refill her mug at the coffee machine.

"Coffee, Will?" she asked, looking back over her shoulder.

"Please," Will accepted, slowly taking a seat at the table as Sandy grabbed another mug from the cupboard above the machine. Silence surrounded them, broken only by the sounds of coffee splashing into the mugs.

A minute or so later, Sandy returned to the table, two steaming mugs of coffee in her hands. She placed one down in front of Will to his nodded thanks, before resuming her previous seat at the end of the table.

"I knew it was going to be worse after Rio," Sandy said quietly, breaking the silence. "It's worse for me too… the Olympics, while amazing, have the terrible side effect of giving you such a rush of joy, pride, and pure adrenalin that nothing else seems to matter. Not only did she compete there and experience that rush, but she had incredible success, which only made the effects… worse. I knew that would happen to JJ, and I knew once they were over, the reality of what happened would hit her harder than ever"

"I just… wish I knew how to help her," Will said sadly.

"With JJ, your main focus really has to be keeping her out of her own head, because she has a tendency to overthink and make everything seem a thousand times worse"

"Was she like that with Ros?"

Sandy stiffened at the mention of her oldest daughter. Even though eleven years had passed since Rosaline's death, Will knew it was still hard for her to talk about her. But, he needed to know… he needed to be ready and as armed as possible to help JJ cope with her grief.

"Well… to some extent, yes. She became very withdrawn after Ros died," Sandy explained softly. Lifting her mug to her lips, she took a long sip, savoring the flavor of the beverage as she set the mug back down. Taking a deep breath, she let go of the mug, bringing her hands together in front of her and interlacing her fingers.

"I don't remember much of the day Rosaline died… but what I do remember is waking up to the sound of JJ screaming in the bathroom. What she saw that morning… it's just incomprehensible still to me, even as an adult. She went into shock after we finally got her to stop screaming… I just remember trying to get her into our bathroom so I could change her out of those… those Lion King pyjamas that she loved. She was just… covered in blood. It took me forever to get her cleaned up, and the whole time, I just couldn't stop crying myself"

Will watched Sandy without speaking, his chest aching with sorrow for his girlfriend's family. How could so much tragedy affect one family?

"How did you get past that?" he breathed.

Sandy smiled slightly, a sob catching in the back of her throat. "We just had to. For JJ… I think it took longer for her. You can't really 'fix' these things… you just have to let time do its work. And the same stands right now. I'm not ok, none of us are… but given a little time, we will be. Right now, what JJ needs is a supporter. Someone who's going to keep her talking and smiling through the really bad days, someone who's going to hold her when she cries, and someone who's going to understand that she needs to work through this on her own terms"

Will stayed silent as Sandy spoke, wanting to take in every word. She took a deep breath, collecting herself for a moment as she wrapped her hands around her mug once more.

"Michael was that person for her when Rosaline died," she admitted softly. "I thought we were going to lose the JJ we knew and loved after we lost Ros, but somehow, Michael kept her smiling. JJ says they've always been close, but the real truth, I believe, is that her dad practically saved her after her sister died"

Tears had grown bright in her eyes, her grip growing tighter around the mug. Across from her, Will was swallowing hard to keep his own emotions in check.

"She wanted to quit gymnastics after Ros died. And not just an 'I've had enough of this sport and all the hours' want to quit, she truly never wanted to set foot back in that gym ever again. But… Michael didn't want her to quit in grief and anger. He convinced her to take some time away from the sport and then reconsider… and less than two weeks later, she decided she wanted to give it one more go. Michael had always been her biggest cheerleader, there's absolutely no lie behind that. But it ran so much deeper than just being proud of her and what she was achieving. He knew how easily that dream she had could have been taken away by tragedy… he knew JJ probably wouldn't have survived her own grief if she didn't have gymnastics to fall back on… so seeing her make it as far as the Olympic Games was truly the most incredible thing for all of us, but especially Michael"

Tears had broken free, falling down Will's cheeks as the deeper meaning of JJ's success fell upon his ears.

"Last time she was grieving, she had her dad there every step of the way, encouraging her to keep moving forward… now she feels alone… even though we know she has you. You just have to show her that you're there for her, and you're there through every step of this awful process"

"I'm not going anywhere… that's a given," Will said softly, his voice cracking slightly.

Sandy smiled, swallowing thickly as she wiped a stray tear from her cheek.

"She'll be ok," she whispered shakily. "Just give it time"

* * *

Half asleep beneath the covers after another bout of dry heaving, JJ barely acknowledged it when her grandmother knocked softly on the door before entering the room.

"You ok my sweet girl?" Theresa asked softly as she stopped momentarily in the doorway.

"Not really," JJ croaked. Theresa bowed her head, turning to close the door before she walked over and gently sat down on the edge of JJ's bed.

"You need to eat something my girl," she said gently, reaching out and lightly rubbing JJ's upper arm. "You're getting sick because you haven't eaten in over a day… grief and not eating don't go well together, trust me"

Taking a deep breath, JJ pushed the covers back slightly, rolling onto her back so she could look at her grandmother directly.

"Did it feel this awful when Pappy died?" she asked softly.

Theresa nodded.

"Grief… it sucks, JJ, no matter who it's for, when it happens, how it happens… it just sucks. I spent many days in bed, not wanting to get up. I'm sure you felt the same when sweet Rosaline passed away"

JJ nodded, closing her eyes as a painful stab shot through her stomach at the mention of her sister.

"I know you miss your father," Theresa said gently. "We all do… he was a wonderful man"

"The best," JJ breathed.

They fell silent for a minute before Theresa chuckled softly.

"You know, I didn't like your dad when I first met him"

JJ looked at her grandmother in surprise as she pushed herself up so she was sitting against her pillows. "You didn't?"

Theresa shook her head. "Not one bit"

"Why?"

Shrugging, Theresa shook her head. "I'm not entirely sure. He seemed somewhat pushy, overly confident… maybe I just thought your mom could do so much better"

Seeing JJ stiffen, Theresa smiled. "But I came around very quickly. I realised after they'd been together a little while that he had a heart of gold, and he treated your mom like a queen. And he did for their entire relationship. He was confident because he knew what he wanted from life and he would work until he got it… a trait he very clearly passed on to you"

JJ broke into a small smile, playing with a loose thread on her sheets as she looked down.

"I know you think that maybe your dad wasn't being overly truthful when he said he wanted you to go to Rio and make your dreams come true… but you and I both know that that is exactly the type of thing he would say at any point in time. You brought so much joy and pride into the worst point of his life, my JJ, and you shouldn't beat yourself up for that"

JJ let out a long breath, looking up at her grandmother.

"I know he's proud of me," she said quietly. "I just miss him. In Rio, I could almost pretend he was there... and being home... it's like it was just a bad dream, but when I got home... the bad dream came true"

Theresa reached out, cupping JJ's cheek and giving her a reassuring smile.

"Just remember how much he loved and adored you. Remember all the happy, beautiful memories. They will last forever, unlike this sadness. You know it just takes time"

Nodding, JJ managed a watery smile, her eyes growing bright again.

"Why don't you go and have a shower, and I'll fix you something to eat?"

Breathing deeply, JJ nodded again.

"Can you make your chicken noodle soup?" she asked softly. Theresa chuckled.

"Of course I can sweetheart"

After getting a tight hug from her grandmother, JJ slowly got up, heading into the bathroom as Theresa went back downstairs.

It wasn't all fixed. That would take time.

But, even if just for today, she was feeling a tiny bit better.


	134. Chapter 134

**A/N: Explicit sex scene in the second part of this chapter so if that's not your thing, then skip it I guess haha!**

* * *

The familiar smell of chalk hit her nose as soon as she walked into the gym on Saturday morning. Almost immediately, she felt a wave of calm settle over her. No matter what was happening in her life, the gym had always been a sanctuary for her.

The last few days had been up and down, but since talking with her grandmother, she had slowly started to work through her grief. Forcing herself to get up every morning and spend time with Will and her mom had helped stave off the early stages of reactive depression, and she was feeling lighter and happier than she had felt when she first came home.

The kids at the gym were all busy, so no-one noticed at first that she had joined their midst. As she stood at the edge of the foyer, watching them as they practiced all their skills, she couldn't help but smile.

Her eyes wandered along the edge of the gym. Up on the far wall, a new poster had joined the myriad of posters already hanging there. From the left, the posters JJ had practically grown up with hung, somewhat faded and dusty. A USA Gymnastics banner, a London 2012 logo banner, photos of the teams from the all the World Championships JJ had competed in, and a long white banner listing all of JJ's national results. Next to the national banner was the one Nick had gotten after the London Olympics; a photo of JJ on the beam podium, with her gold medal around her neck. Down the right hand side, her results were listed.

 _2012 Olympic team gold  
2012 Olympic balance beam gold  
2012 Olympic floor exercise silver  
2012 Olympic all-around bronze  
2012 Olympic uneven bars bronze_

Beside it was the new poster. This time, it was a photo of her holding her all-around gold medal. The tears were still fresh in her eyes, but her smile was brighter than ever. Along the bottom in bright white block letters, the banner read ' **JENNIFER JAREAU, 2016 OLYMPIC ALL-AROUND CHAMPION** '.

 _2016 Olympic team gold  
2016 Olympic all-around gold  
2016 Olympic balance beam gold  
2016 Olympic vault silver  
2016 Olympic uneven bars bronze_

Seeing the cumulative listing of the ten biggest achievements in her career was an incredible thing to experience. It almost sent a shiver down her spine.

"JJ!"

Turning around, JJ beamed as Teagan came up and pulled her into a tight hug.

"You were absolutely amazing in Rio, and all that success was well deserved, you worked so hard this year!" Teagan praised. "We had a gym sleepover night for team and all-around finals, so all the girls were here watching you live"

"What were their thoughts?" JJ asked with a grin; some of the younger girls were rather opinionated.

"Lexie still doesn't understand why you get to be on TV and not her," Teagan chuckled, making JJ laugh. "And when you did your Moors in the all-around, and Tim Daggett lost his mind, Lexie goes 'ok, she did a flip! _What_ is the big deal?'"

JJ laughed again. "I love that kid"

"She's such a crackup," Teagan said with a grin. "Why don't you come out and see the kids? They're all dying to hear from you"

Nodding, JJ hoisted her bag a little higher, before following Teagan out onto the floor. Nick was talking to his group of young gymnasts, who were all sitting cross legged with their backs to JJ and Teagan. Behind them, Kate and Clem were also listening to Nick's every word.

Seeing them coming, Nick broke into a smile.

"Hey girls, we have a visitor"

Almost in unison, every girl on the floor whipped around, their faces lighting up when they saw JJ standing there.

"JJ!" a few of them shrieked, leaping up to run over and hug her. Kate was the first to get to her, throwing her arms around JJ's middle and hugging her tightly.

"Hey," she laughed, hugging Kate back with one arm and managing to give the other girls a half hug with her other. Looking down at Kate, she grinned. "When did you start getting so tall?"

Kate laughed. "Well, it won't be long until I'm taller than you"

"Do you guys want to see the medals?" JJ asked, looking out at the sea of little faces looking up at her.

"Yes! Yes!" they shrieked, jumping up and down in excitement before Nick gestured for them all to sit. They did, forming a little circle around JJ as she unzipped her bag and pulled out the five wooden boxes that housed her prizes from Rio.

"Which is your most specialest one?" a little girl named Kennedy piped up, bouncing on her knees from where she was sitting.

"Probably this one," JJ said as she lifted her all-around gold medal from its housing. "This is my all-around medal"

The kids crooned over it as she laid it out before them. They were patient, watching in awe as she laid all five medals out in a row on the carpet.

"JJ, you tell us about the 'lympics?" another little girl asked in a shrill voice. JJ grinned.

"Of course!" she obliged. "Well… I was very nervous when we got to Rio. I was also still a little sad because my dad wasn't there, but the other girls kept making me laugh and helped me really stay focused on our job…"

* * *

Moonlight spilled through the window as the shower stopped running in the next room. It was late, so late that Sandy and Theresa had both been in bed and asleep for at least an hour if not more. But JJ was still awake, waiting for Will to finish showering before he joined her in bed.

Speaking to the little girls had humbled her incredibly. It had made her laugh when Lexie had piped up with the statement that she 'just didn't get why the Olympics are so special', and it had reminded her that while little girls across the country idolized her as the Olympic gymnast, to the girls at her gym, she was still just JJ.

They'd filled her with so much hope… even after a terrible loss, life still went on, and how better to view her life than through the innocent eyes of the kids who loved her like a big sister? Seeing them again after all the hurdles life had thrown at her lately had really shifted her perspective. She felt… better. Happier and lighter than she had felt in a long time.

But, she thought as she shifted beneath the covers, deep down, something still weighed on her like a lump of concrete. She still felt like something was missing. She still felt a little numb… she just wanted something that could push away the residual grief for a little while.

"Remind me in the morning to fix the pressure in your shower," Will said absently as he walked out of the bathroom in nothing but a pair of flannel pyjama pants, toweling his hair dry as he did. The moonlight coming through the window fell across his chest, highlighting every muscle, illuminating the bronzed glow of his skin.

JJ's heart leapt in her chest.

 _He_ was what she needed.

"You haven't fallen asleep on me already have you?" Will chuckled at her silence as he walked around to his side of the bed, dropping his towel in the laundry hamper as he went. When he pulled the covers back and got into the bed, JJ slowly sat up, her eyes locking onto his.

"What's up babe?" Will asked softly, stopping in his tracks.

Shuffling a little closer, JJ reached out towards him. Her hand snaked around the back of his neck, gently pulling him in for a deep kiss. His hand slowly went to her hip, holding her gently as they kissed, bathed in the soft white light of the moon.

"I want you to touch me," JJ whispered when they broke apart, resting her forehead against Will's. "I… I want to make love with you"

At those words, Will swore every drop of blood in his body started to race south. But before he get too ahead of himself, he lifted the hand from JJ's hip, gently wrapping it around her own hand and holding it gently.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" he asked. "You're still healing… I don't want to take advantage of you"

JJ nodded, lifting her face until her lips were mere millimeters from Will's.

"I don't want to feel so numb… I want to remember what it's like to be so close to you… it feels like it's been forever since we've been intimate," she said softly.

He studied her for a moment, before nodding slowly.

"If you're sure"

"I'm sure," she breathed, before pulling him back in for another kiss. This time, it was filled with burning desire, a desperate need for sexual pleasure that they hadn't felt for each other in over two months.

"We need to be quiet," JJ whispered as she lay back down beneath Will's handsome form. He never replied, simply bringing his lips down to nuzzle the sweet spot beneath her ear he knew she liked. When her breath hitched in her throat, he smiled; it worked every time.

She tilted her head, allowing him better access to her neck as her hands roamed across the warm expanse of his back. He fixated on the spot under her ear, just long enough to get her body humming without leaving a mark, before he slowly started to kiss his way down to her chest.

"Arms up," he murmured, sliding her T-shirt up her torso and over her head. Casting it aside, he continued the trail he was burning into her skin.

Lingering on the curves of her neck, then her collarbones, he finally found his way to her breasts. His mouth went to work on one, eliciting a breathy moan from JJ, while his hand came up to gently cup and squeeze the other.

He was surprised when JJ pulled him back up to her lips. He almost melted at her touch when just seconds later, her hand was beneath the waistband of his pyjama pants, gently stroking his already hardened length.

"You have to have some fun too," she said, a hint of a smile playing in the corners of her mouth.

"Trust me… making love to you is more than enough," Will choked out in reply, dropping his head and letting out a gasp as her finger ran over his tip. "JJ… I'm not… I won't last if you keep that up"

"At least get out of those pants," JJ replied, already pushing the waistband down over his hips. His swollen penis came free immediately, sending a rush of heated arousal straight to JJ's core.

Kicking the pants aside once they were at his feet, Will dipped his head again, kissing his way down the toned muscles of her abdomen, and down to the waistband of her panties.

Teasing her lightly through the cotton of her underwear, he smiled when her breath caught in her throat.

"You like that?" he asked softly.

"Please," JJ breathed, pushing her hips down towards his hand, already begging for more. It was surprising, and at the same time, not so surprising just how quickly she had gotten aroused.

Will gently stroked her through the cotton, feeling incredibly satisfied as the material grew damper with every second.

She was already building up for a climax, he could tell by the way her body was responding to his touch. Every breath, every moan just sent more blood rushing south in his body. He was _aching_ … but first, he would give JJ the release she wanted so badly.

Pulling her panties down her toned legs, he cast them aside, before slipping two fingers deep inside her and gently curling them to find that sweet spot.

She let out a cry which she quickly stifled as she came, rocking her hips towards Will and begging for more.

Never one to leave her hanging, Will dipped his head down towards her secrets.

His tongue met the most intimate part of her body, teasing and tantalizing the sensitive bundle of nerves between her legs. Automatically, her legs fell apart, allowing him easier access as he built her up towards her second peak. He could feel her muscles quivering with anticipation, still pulsating from the first release. Wrapping one arm around her thigh, he lifted the other hand up to her mound, placing his thumb against her clitoris as he plunged his tongue deep inside her.

The resulting orgasm rocked through her with a powerful wave, so strong that she very nearly forgot where she was and let out a scream. Will quickly shifted, crawling over the top of her and swallowing her breathy cries with a deep kiss. The second he removed his hand from between her legs, one of her own found her center, her fingers gently stroking as she coaxed herself through her second high of the night.

A few moments later, she slowly wrapped herself around Will's warm body. She was shaking with the intensity of the release, but somehow, her hands found purchase on Will's back, pulling him closer to her as he deepened the kiss. Gently, he nudged her legs further apart with his knee, placing his tip at her glistening core.

When he sank into her, she broke away from him with a gasp, her nails digging into the skin on his back. She'd already orgasmed twice… if she came again, she wasn't sure if her legs would hold her up come morning. But instinctively, she rolled her hips towards him, taking him deeper than he thought possible.

"Fuck," he groaned, dropping his head to the curve of JJ's neck. She let out a deep breath, bringing one hand up into his hair and holding him as they both stayed motionless for a moment. Her body was humming relentlessly after the first two waves… she needed a second to gather herself again before she went flying over the cliffs once more.

"Just stay here," she breathed. "One moment"

Nodding slightly, Will lifted his face, pressing a kiss to JJ's cheek. Retracing his earlier steps, he kissed a gentle, loving trail down below her ear and further down the side of her neck.

Her legs felt like jelly, but she managed to lift her right leg and wrap it over the back of Will's knee, allowing him to sink further into her. Eventually, they were completely joined as one.

"You feel amazing," Will murmured, his hips instinctively bucking as he chased the throbbing release he was aching for. "I love you"

Bringing her hands down to his jaw, JJ cupped his face and looked up at him lovingly. Her eyes were clouded with lust, burning with sheer desire, but nothing could erase just how much she loved him from within those crystal blue pools. As she pulled him down for another kiss, he rolled his hips slowly against hers, dragging out the pain of pleasure for as long as he was physically able.

She drew her leg tighter around his, rocking her hips back against his in a rhythmic match. Gradually, their pace increased, until Will was fighting to keep his groans of pleasure as quiet as possible. It had been so long since they had been intimate… it was building up so quickly. He didn't know if he could control himself much longer… but he wanted JJ to come first. He'd built her up this far.

"Will… I…," JJ said in a strangled breath, her fingers on her right hand winding into the soft brown waves of Will's hair, searching desperately for grounding as her third climax started to build deep in her gut. Her other hand scrabbled beneath them, clutching at a handful of the sheets. Her muscles started to tense as Will's rhythm became more frantic and broken.

"I'm gonna… Will, I'm gonna scream," she gasped, both hands flying up to the bare skin of his back.

"Not if I can help it," Will choked out, leaning down and capturing JJ's lips at the exact moment he pushed her over the edge again. Her cries of pleasure were short lived, drowning in his mouth as her nails left deep scratches on the backs of his shoulders. Her whole body had seized beneath him, leaving her clutching at him as tightly as possible to keep herself grounded.

In the midst of the release, Will finally came, having been holding himself on the edge. With one last thrust, he sank entirely into JJ, emptying himself deep inside of her. His groan of pleasure was muffled against the soft skin of her cheek. Unable to hold himself up on shaking arms anymore, he slowly lowered himself down over the top of JJ, burying his face in the curve of her neck as he fought to catch his breath.

He wasn't altogether surprised when JJ started to cry just a few moments later. It happened fairly regularly after they made love, but even so, he knew this time wasn't quite the same.

"You ok?" he asked quietly, lifting his face from her shoulder and shifting his weight slightly to the side.

"Yeah," JJ stammered through her tears, hastily wiping them away with one hand as Will brushed her hair out of her eyes. "I'm alright… just… overwhelmed, I guess"

Lifting her gaze to meet Will's eyes, she managed the smallest of smiles, prompting him to press a loving kiss to her cheek, then her temple.

"That was the best sex I've ever had," JJ breathed as Will finally moved completely off her, pulling the sheet back up over their naked bodies. He chuckled in agreement, but knowing that what she needed now was comfort and security, he pulled her into his arms, smiling when she tucked her head beneath his chin and placed a hand against his chest.

"I love you beautiful girl," he murmured against the top of her head. "I love you so much"

JJ tipped her head back to look up at him. Will's heart swelled when he took in her appearance. Her cheeks were flushed pink, her lips swollen with arousal… she had never been more beautiful to him.

She was his beautiful girl… and he would do whatever it took to help her get as much of her old self back as possible.


	135. Chapter 135

**A/N: This one is super sweet, so get that floss ready!**

* * *

Everything around her was so warm… she was so content right here, she didn't want to wake up. Her body was still humming happily from the previous night. She felt relaxed and at ease for the first time in a while, even though sleep was slowly pulling into wakefulness, and she wanted to fight it as long as possible.

But when she became aware of a painful ache in her bladder, she knew she had met defeat. There was no hope of going back to sleep when she needed to use the bathroom that badly.

However, she couldn't get up just yet. The warm weight of Will's body was pressed against her right side, holding her down until he decided to move. She could tell he was still asleep from the deep rhythmic motion of his chest, but she was going to have to wake him up.

"Will," she mumbled, pushing against his shoulder. He let out a noncommittal grunt, blindly swatting her hand away as he fought waking up for just a little longer.

"Will," she said a little more forcefully, forcing herself to open her eyes. The sun was almost dazzling, streaming through the window across the room. In their loved up haste, they had forgotten to close the blind. "Will, get off me, I have to pee"

"Not moving," Will whispered in his half awake daze. "Guess you have to stay here forever"

JJ giggled, trying again to push him away. She was strong, but Will was quite easily twice her size, and she just wasn't strong enough to push the dead weight of his body off of her own.

"Will," she whined, making him laugh into the crook of her neck. "I'm gonna wet myself if you don't move"

"Aw, that's too bad," Will teased, getting a playful slap to his shoulder.

"William LaMontagne Junior, let me up right now!" she exclaimed, laughing when Will lifted his head up and grinned at her, a sleepy fog clouding his eyes.

"What if I don't want to move?" he asked with a cheeky grin. "What if I want to do this instead?"

He brought his hand down to her side and lightly tickled her ribs. She shrieked, laughing as she tried to squirm away from him. He laughed, digging them in a little deeper as she put her hands flat against his chest and attempted to shove him off of her.

"Don't… Will, NO, stop!" she laughed hysterically, finally wriggling free of him and pushing herself back across the bed. Will laughed when she almost fell off, shaking his head as she scrambled across the room in a naked flurry. She bent down, grabbing Will's shirt from the previous day out of the hamper before disappearing into the bathroom.

"Don't make me come in there and tickle the pee out of you," Will called teasingly after her, his voice carrying through the open door and around the corner.

"I'll hit you," JJ called back. "Really hard"

Laughing, Will dropped his head down to his hands.

Now that he was awake, he was suddenly aware of the aching feeling in his nether regions. It seemed like the previous evening was carrying over into the morning.

A minute or so later, the toilet flushed, and JJ flounced back into the room, now wearing Will's shirt. Smiling, she sat down on the edge of the bed, brushing her hair back from her face with her left hand.

"Now that I don't have a painfully full bladder," she started, getting a chuckle out of Will, "I wanted to say thank you… for last night. It was pretty incredible... I think it was just what I needed right now"

Will broke into a handsome smile, propping himself up on his elbows as he reached out and covered her hand with his own.

"Anytime cher," he replied. "You know I'll always listen to you and do what I can do to help you"

Leaning down, JJ pressed her lips to his in a loving kiss. She was surprised when, after a few seconds, Will suddenly pulled away with an awkward cough.

"What's wrong?" she asked, frowning.

"I, uh… have a particular problem this morning… that that's not really helping," he muttered, looking somewhat abashed.

JJ grinned.

"Look at you, you're like a horny teenager," she teased.

"Well, considering I apparently won't mature until I'm 30, you could argue that I am," Will shot back, getting a laugh out of JJ.

"You know… I might just be able to help you out," she said in a low voice, starting to move towards him.

"You think?" Will asked playfully, rolling onto his side as she sidled up and lay beside him.

"I think," she breathed softly, her hand closing around his hardened length and effectively removing all coherent thought from his brain.

"You're an angel," he managed to say as she stroked him slowly, edging him back towards another powerful release like that of the previous evening.

After that, words failed him, and the morning got off to a beautiful, blissful start.

* * *

A morning run had left JJ feeling energised and refreshed. With nothing on her agenda for the day, she opted to spend some time with her mom, while Will left them alone for a few hours to run some errands, promising to make them dinner upon his return. While he was gone, JJ and Sandy had taken Theresa to the airport, as it was time for her to fly back home. She had bid them goodbye with a tight hug each, but the tightest one came to JJ, who was equally as reluctant to see her grandmother go.

Returning to the house with just the two of them had hammered home the reality of just how quiet life was going to be without Michael around. But, refusing to let it bring them down, they smiled encouragingly at each other, before retreating into the kitchen.

A short while later, JJ was seated at the kitchen counter, a hot mug of coffee cradled between her hands as she watched her mother making her own beverage.

"You look so much better today," Sandy said warmly as she turned to face JJ, leaning back against the counter behind her. "There's so much colour in your face that wasn't there the other day"

"I feel better," JJ replied, tapping her fingers lightly against her mug. "I miss Dad a lot... but I know that he would want me... want us, to pick up and keep going, because life goes on, you know?"

"Definitely," Sandy said with a smile. "Your father was a funny man... he had some funny sayings… but his heart was always in the right place"

JJ grinned, lifting her mug to her lips and sipping it slowly. They fell into a comfortable silence, the only sounds being the leaves of the trees outside gently rustling in the late summer breeze.

"Is everything ok between you and Will? You've just been a bit distant lately… he seems worried about you," Sandy asked, her voice conveying the genuine concern she was feeling. "Honestly, _I_ was a little worried about how you guys would handle all this"

Taking another sip of her coffee, JJ gave her mother a small smile.

"I was so scared after Dad died… that because I was grieving and focusing on the Olympics at the same time… our relationship would suffer... and I was even more scared of that when I got home and realised just how much I missed Dad, and how much it hurt that he's gone" she admitted. Breathing deeply, she looked up at her mom... and then everything came tumbling out.

"I've been leaning on Will for support this whole time, and he's been amazing. But the hardest thing has been… the physical side of our relationship... getting back to where we were. I've felt like it's wrong to want to be that close to him because I should still be grieving, but I've also kind of learned that everyone heals and moves along in their own way. And Will is… the best. He's been so patient, and so understanding… I feel like we're almost reconnecting, and that if we get through this, we'll be fine. We _are_ fine," she said firmly.

Sandy nodded in understanding. "No, I totally get that. Grief is... really weird, especially when it comes to your sex life. I'll never forget when your dad and I went to your Uncle Darryl's funeral... you were only little-"

"Mom, I swear to god, if you tell me you had sex AT a funeral, I'll disown you right now"

Sandy laughed. "No, we weren't animals! If you'll let me explain... grief is weird because it pulls a whole range of emotions from you in a very short space of time. Your dad was grieving the loss of his brother, I was feeling pretty sad myself because everyone loved Darryl... and, well, we got home, and... I'm sure you can figure out the rest. But what I'm trying to say is that don't feel like you're doing something wrong by listening to your body. More often than not, it's coming from wanting comfort, intimacy, and security, even if it's just for a little while"

JJ stared thoughtfully at her mug, mulling her mother's words over and over in her head. Not for the first time, she was incredibly glad that she had an open, honest relationship with her mom. It made it a lot easier when she had burning questions and confusion about things like this.

"You two have never had it easy. I think... if you survived the four years between London and Rio, and you're just coming through the wringer with all of this... you're going to be just fine," Sandy said warmly, crossing the small walkway so she could lean on the counter in front of JJ.

"Yeah," JJ agreed softly, lifting her mug and drinking down the last of her coffee. "I think we will"

* * *

" _Oh my god, JJ, I was like THIS close to reporting you missing because you totally went M.I.A. on us, are you okay? Has everything been ok since you got home?"_

"It's been... different," JJ said softly, smiling at the genuine concern in Aly's voice. They were Facetiming, the first contact they had had since leaving New York. JJ hadn't wanted to speak to any of the girls after they parted ways, needing some time to decompress after the Olympics and start processing her loss, but today, she was at least feeling up to talking to Aly.

" _JJ, you even look thin from here, are you sure you're alright?"_

"You literally sound exactly like my grandma," JJ shot back, making Aly giggle. "I'm fine... I... I had a bit of a meltdown when I got home, and the first couple of days were pretty rough. I was vomiting, I wasn't eating, my head and my stomach were hurting all the time... but I'm feeling better now. I promise"

" _Oh Jayje, as long as Will and your mom are looking out for you,"_ Aly replied.

"Of course they are," JJ smiled. "Honestly Al, I'm feeling a lot better. I went and saw the kids at the gym yesterday, and I felt so good after I left... like I had a whole new perspective on everything"

" _Good. How's that new perspective workin' out for you?"_

"Well... I had the best sex of my life last night, so it must be doing something"

Aly laughed. _"Was that a follow on from the picture in Rio?"_

"No," JJ grinned. "This just happened all on its own"

" _Well good, I'm glad you're feeling more like yourself. The girls were all super worried when you stopped being active in the group chat, they kept asking me if I'd heard from you"_

"Yeah, sorry about that... I just needed to switch off for a little while and deal with everything, you know?"

" _Yeah... hey Will!"_

JJ turned, seeing Will walking into the room. Without a word, he flopped on the bed behind JJ, grabbing her around the waist and pulling her down with him as she let out a shriek.

"Did you have to?" she laughed.

"Yes," he replied simply, making her giggle as he gave her a quick kiss.

" _You guys literally make my heart explode with cuteness, Will, can I clone you?"_

"Sure, what do you need? Hair, blood, spit, whatever you need, I got it," Will joked, making JJ roll her eyes as Aly laughed. She sat up, picking up her phone and holding it so Aly could see both of them.

" _I am so excited for tour, it's gonna be amazing"_

"As long as I don't accidentally start drama again," JJ laughed.

" _You have a big mouth, you definitely will. You'll probably try to throw Simone off the moving bus because she kept you up or something"_

"Aly, that's a given," JJ joked.

" _Well anyways, I'm going to leave you two lovebirds to enjoy each other's company, I just wanted to check in and make sure you were still alive... I'll see you in a WEEK! So excited!"_

Bidding her goodbyes, JJ hung up the call, turning to look at Will with a somewhat adoring smile.

"Wanna watch a movie?" he suggested, knowing they would just enjoy some time to cuddle together. He just wanted to hold and love his girl right now... she was, after all, about to leave for two months again.

"Of course," JJ replied.

A few minutes later, they were cuddled up amongst her pillows, the opening scenes of _Inside Out_ playing on the TV before them.

For JJ, it had been a beautiful day. A beautiful, content... happy day.


	136. Chapter 136

**A/N: Apologies for the break… I have been so unwell, it's ridiculous, and then I had my dance concert in the midst of it!**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

After a long case, it was with a heavy sigh that Emily Prentiss sank into her chair on the jet, dragging her hand down her tired face as she set her coffee down on the table.

Nearly everyone else was fast asleep, scattered around the plane as it cruised home towards DC. Over in the corner, Garcia, who had had the rare job of joining them for the case, was tapping away at her computer, sipping coffee from one of her oversized novelty mugs.

Deciding if she was going to be awake, it might as well be in company, Emily pulled herself up again, carrying herself and her coffee over to the smaller table where Garcia was seated.

"Can't sleep?"

Emily shook her head. "It was a hell of a case. The thing I can't get over though is the media… I mean… they're bad at the best of times, but they took the hounding to a whole new level this time around"

"I've just come to accept that reporters are pigs… I mean, did you ever see that Fox News thing from the Olympics?"

"No?" Emily frowned. "To be honest, I forgot the Olympics even happened… we've been so flat out"

Grinning, Garcia typed something into her laptop, before turning it around so Emily could see the screen. "One of their reporters got punched out by a gymnastics coach… it was the craziest thing I've ever seen"

Emily let out a disbelieving laugh as Garcia started the video she'd brought up on the screen.

" _What about your dad? That's something only very recent, do you think you're doing ok in spite of that?"_ the reporter asked. Emily's eyes fell to the girl he was interviewing, and her mouth dropped slightly.

"Hey, that's... oh, what's her name-"

"Jennifer Jareau," Garcia said with a grin. "Your friend from Pittsburgh"

"I'd hardly call her my friend," Emily chuckled.

" _I think so... I mean, there's still a lot to work through. But I know I made him proud out there"_

" _Do you regret spending most of your time training for the Olympics rather than spending time with your father when he was dying?"_

Emily watched as JJ's expression changed to one of shock and disbelief.

" _No… I…-"_

" _Are you okay with having sacrificed your time with him just so you could win another medal? Because at the end of the day, that medal is just an object… is it really worth everything you've given up?"_

" _You need to stop,"_ JJ's coach said darkly.

Tears were spilling down JJ's cheeks and Emily found herself feeling heartbroken for the young girl, despite not knowing what exactly was going on.

" _Do you think he died harbouring resentment that you chose a sport and your own glory over your own father?"_

Before she could process what the reporter had actually said, Emily's jaw had dropped as the coach leapt up and landed a punch square in the reporter's face.

"It went viral," Garcia said, stopping the video.

"She... when I saw her in Pittsburgh, that man... Nick I think he said his name was... he told me she went to the London Olympics... did she go to the Olympics again?"

Garcia nodded. "She won five medals in London, and another five in Rio, _and_ she beat Simone Biles to be the Olympic all-around champion, which is apparently the biggest title you can win in gymnastics. She's pretty awesome"

Emily raised her eyebrows.

"Wow"

* * *

The air outside was already quite nippy, even for September, as JJ came into the house after her run.

"Did you win?" Will called jokingly from the kitchen as she walked through. He was sitting at the table, his laptop open in front of him and his notes spread out beside him.

"No," JJ muttered, avoiding his gaze as she walked over to the fridge and opened it to grab a water bottle. Turning back towards Will, she took a swig of water, before setting the bottle down on the counter.

"I'm not as fast… I'm like… two minutes slower than I usually am," she said quietly, avoiding looking straight at Will.

"Well… you're not training every day… obviously you won't be at your peak," Will said gently, sitting back in his chair as he set his pen down. "You shouldn't worry about it so much"

"Yeah, but it shouldn't happen this fast!" JJ snapped, turning on her heel and disappearing out of the room. Somewhat surprised, Will slowly got up, following at a distance.

By the time he reached JJ's room, she was rifling furiously through her chest of drawers in search of fresh clothes.

"JJ… why are you so upset about this? You know that even a week after you stop training you'll usually see a difference in your stamina," he said, leaning against the doorframe. "You still look fit and healthy… you've been through a lot lately, it's ok if you're not up to your usual standard"

"It's important to me, ok!" JJ shot back, slamming the drawer closed and turning her back on him. "I just want to feel more like myself!"

"Are you ok?" Will asked, his voice a little more firm.

"No!" JJ cried, whirling around with tears in her eyes. "No, goddamn it, I am not ok, and I wish for once that people would just realize that and STOP. FUCKING. ASKING ME!"

Taken aback, Will instinctively took a step back towards the landing, but his resolve stiffened.

"Well how the hell am I supposed to know you're not ok JJ, every time I ask you, you tell me that you're fine!"

"Just leave me alone!" JJ yelled, shoving past him and storming down the stairs. As a car door slammed out on the driveway, Will followed, keeping his distance.

"JJ, where are you going?" he called after her as he descended the stairs. When he reached the entryway, JJ was rifling through the dish on the hallway table.

"Out!" she snapped. "Just STOP hovering over me, Will, I've had it, I don't need a babysitter!"

"No, JJ, I'm just worried about you, I know you're not ok right now and you're scaring me!"

Through the floods of tears cascading down her cheeks, JJ turned and grabbed her jacket off the stand, before reaching out for the door. As her hand closed around the handle, the door opened, and in came Sandy, carrying a bag of groceries.

"What's all the yelling, I can hear you two out on the driveway!" she exclaimed as she came inside.

"I'm going for a run," JJ said tearfully, trying to push past her mother, but she wasn't fast enough to stop Will reaching out and grabbing her arm.

"JJ, you can't just run away from everything when it gets too hard, stay here and _talk_ to me," he said hurriedly, pulling JJ back into the house.

"What's wrong?" Sandy asked worriedly, kicking the door closed behind her as she set the groceries down on the hall table.

"What do you THINK is wrong?" JJ shrieked, wrenching her arm out of Will's grasp. "Why am I the only one who seems to be hurting? Why am I the only one who is actually grieving? You should be hurting too, but instead you've just picked up and kept going, and I can't understand WHY! Do you even _care_ that Dad died? At all?"

"JJ…," Sandy breathed, her eyes filling with tears as the words lashed off of JJ's tongue. She took a step forward, reaching out towards her daughter. "JJ, relax, we can't talk about this unless you calm down"

"I don't want to TALK!" JJ cried. "I want someone to hurt as much as I do because this isn't fair!"

"JJ-" Will started, reaching out to grab her again.

"Don't TOUCH ME!" JJ shrieked, backing away and turning to try and escape from the feeling of being closed in.

"JJ-"

But seconds later, in a wild attempt to break past them, she threw her good hand out, punching the large ornate mirror that had hung over the hall table for as long as she could remember. Crying out in pain as the glass sliced open her fisted hand, she fell to the floor.

"JJ… you need to let us help you," Sandy said through tears as she knelt down before her daughter, carefully avoiding the broken glass. "I know you're hurting, I am too… but holding it all up inside doesn't make it any easier"

Looking down at JJ's bleeding hand, she wiped away her tears.

"I think we need to take you to the hospital"

* * *

Sitting in the park across the road from the hospital, Will kept his head in his hands, breathing in the fresh air.

He knew it wasn't fair to be angry at JJ, but he was. For as long as he had known her, she had always been like this. Scared of admitting the truth, scared to admit when it was all getting too much. And now, she had done the very thing he had always been afraid she would do; bring harm to herself in an emotional fit.

But as much as he had wanted to snap, as much as he had wanted to yell, to grab her and try to put some sense into her, he had held it down.

She was hurting enough… and he wasn't going to add to it more by yelling at her for something she couldn't really help.

So for now, he was just going to sit. And when he was feeling better able to handle the situation, he would go back to his girlfriend's side.

* * *

JJ had remained completely silent the entire time they'd been at the hospital, speaking only to answer the questions directed at her by the doctor. She was in a bed, waiting for the doctor to return to remove the glass from her hand and suture the wounds.

Sandy had sat patiently at her bedside, her thoughts running through her head at a million miles a minute.

She didn't know how to help JJ through the rough patches. She just didn't know what to do anymore, other than being a supportive mother.

"Are you in much pain?" she asked softly, leaning forward and resting her elbows on the edge of the bed.

JJ shook her head, steadfastly refusing to look her mother in the eye as she seemed to withdraw further to the other side of the bed.

Sandy sighed.

"You know what JJ… I want you to listen to me, and actually hear what I'm saying," she said softly. "I am hurting over losing your dad too… I do care that he's gone, because he was the love of my life… but what's hurting me more right now is seeing you in so much pain… you're hurting yourself by trying to deal with this on your own and it kills me to watch it happen, JJ"

JJ took a deep breath, still avoiding her mother's gaze.

"You have _got_ to stop bottling everything up all the time… you have been through too much for too long to still think it'll be ok if you don't talk to anyone," Sandy said firmly.

"I just… hate feeling so hurt… and so angry… all the time," JJ whispered, turning to finally look at her mother with watery blue eyes. "I know it's a normal part of grieving… but it's so easy for you to just go on as normal… and for me, I can have good days and then one morning it just all spirals out of control again and I hate it, I hate it so much… I don't feel like me anymore"

Sandy couldn't help the tears that filled her eyes as JJ's admittance came tumbling forward.

"I just miss Dad so much… it's not fucking fair that he's gone," JJ breathed as her tears spilled over.

Rising out of her chair, Sandy pulled JJ into a tight hug, kissing the top of her head and holding her as tears spilled over her own cheeks.

"I know it's not fair… and I miss him too… but hell will freeze over before I let you drown in grief and hurt baby girl, I love you way too much to let that happen"

* * *

An hour and a hand full of stitches later, JJ was discharged. It had only been a short conversation between her and her mom, but it was enough to take the weight off her chest for at least a little while. They both knew there was plenty of healing to come, but for now, it was a start.

As they were walking towards the exit, JJ spotted Will walking towards them. He looked incredibly weary and emotionally drained… and suddenly JJ found herself feeling horribly guilty.

Quickening her pace, she hurried towards him. As he opened his mouth to speak to her, she reached him, throwing her arms around his middle and clinging on for comfort.

"I'm sorry," she whispered.

Staying silent, Will pressed a kiss to the top of her head.

He was still upset… but they could work it out later.

* * *

"Are you sure you don't want one of us to come with you?"

Her mother's quietly concerned statement permeated the silence in the car. They were sitting outside the Allegheny Cemetery, waiting to build up the courage to get out of the car and walk in.

JJ had requested they make the stop after leaving the hospital, but as yet, she hadn't pulled herself out of her seat.

Shaking her head in response to her mother, she took a deep breath.

"I think… this is something I actually have to do alone," she breathed, finally lifting her hand to the door and pulling on the latch. As she slipped out of the car, she looked back over at her mom and Will, giving them a soft smile. "I won't be too long"

The grass crunched beneath her feet as she made her way down the hill to the small plot beneath the tree where she knew her sister and father were buried side by side.

As she drew closer, a lump swelled in her throat; this was the first time she was visiting her father's grave.

Was it going to make things better or worse?

When she reached the ornate marble headstones, she slowly knelt down in front of them, cradling her freshly injured hand in her less injured left hand.

A gentle fall breeze rustled through the trees above her, tickling her skin like a breath of fresh air. Closing her eyes, she took in a deep breath, settling herself down in the grass.

"I miss you," she whispered, opening her eyes and looking straight at her father's grave.

 _Michael Steven Jareau  
29 November 1964 – 11 July 2016_

 _Beloved son to Josie and Kent  
Brother to Darryl and Rosie  
Husband to Sandra  
Father to Jason, Rosaline, and Jennifer_

" _The ones we love never truly leave us"_

"I know we were always close, but I didn't realize it would hurt this much to lose you… I thought I was stronger than this," she breathed, her eyes filling with hot tears yet again.

When her eyes landed directly on the small photo of her father's smiling face, all her resolve melted away, and she burst into tears.

"Why did this have to happen to you?" she sobbed. "I don't understand"

She fell forward, her hands grasping at the grass as sobs wracked her tiny frame.

"I'm hurting… everyone around me… but I don't know how to stop it… I'm not me… I'm not the girl who competed in Rio, and as much as I hope I made you proud, it scares me… it makes me angry… because I want to be myself again… but I feel like the only person who would have known what to say was you and you're not here"

Lifting her face, she took a deep shuddering breath, wiping at her tears with her left hand.

"I just miss you so much… I miss your jokes… your hugs… your cooking… I just feel like I need you so much right now. You were the best dad I ever could have asked for"

Still wiping away tears, she sat back slightly, gazing at the headstones with nothing but sadness in her eyes.

"I just really hope you're proud of me Daddy," she breathed, letting out a choked sob. "I… I'm doing my best to keep going… it's just so hard without you… but more than anything… I just hope you're not in pain… not suffering anymore"

Reaching out, she placed a hand on top of the gravestone, allowing her tears to fall before she leant forward and pressed a kiss to the top of the marble. Turning to Ros' headstone, she repeated her actions.

"I love you both so much"

She sat there for a few more minutes, allowing her emotions to wash over her freely in the evening dusk, before she pulled herself to her feet and headed back up to the parking lot. Not even bothering to hide the fact that she'd been crying, she reached her mom's car, sliding into the backseat beside Will.

"Feeling any better?" Sandy asked softly as she looked over at her daughter. JJ nodded slightly, buckling herself in, before turning to Will and burying her face in his chest as she started to cry again.

As upset as he still was, Will didn't hesitate to wrap his arms around her, kissing the top of her head and holding her tight as Sandy pulled out of the lot and headed back for home.


	137. Chapter 137

**A/N: Another sex scene at the end, it kind of started to run away from me at the end because I'm tired haha.**

* * *

 _ **That all-around final BLEW me away! What were your thoughts on it? Poor Simone looked so lost when that final score went up.**_

 _Wow. Just wow. 0.033 POINTS. WHAT EVEN. That's just insanity. I laughed and then I cried, because that final was an emotional rollercoaster. I know I said prior to the Games that JJ was going to give Simone a run for her money, but I never actually thought I would see the day where Simone Biles got beat in the all-around, let alone at the Olympics. It was a seriously tight final all the way through, and I know after the third rotation when I looked at the standings, I realised JJ actually had a chance to make it happen. Every girl out there performed their hearts out, and I loved seeing the fight from all of them, but none more so than Simone and JJ._

 _As for Simone... she knew straight after floor. I'm sure everyone's eyes were on JJ, because the poor girl was still trying to calm herself down (I expected tears from her but I didn't expect the fullblown meltdown, she really did fight her way through Thursday night), but I was watching Simone in the background, and she kept pointing at the scoreboard and then talking to Aimee, and I could just tell from the look on her face that she knew her assured gold medal wasn't assured anymore. But she has nothing to be upset about; she gave four amazing routines and won an Olympic silver medal. And knowing Simone, I don't think she's one to be upset with the colour of the medal. She's probably more upset about her performance, but as I said above; she did everything she could. JJ just had a better day._

 _ **I've seen people everywhere disputing JJ's all-around win at the Olympics, saying she was overscored or given 'pity points' and that Simone Biles is the rightful winner. What's your honest opinion on her win?**_

 _She won it fair and square, even if the margin was only that of a tenth. Simone Biles and Aliya Mustafina have both stated in interviews that they also believe she is the rightful winner. I don't know how many other people have noticed (it's possible no-one did because Simone has been that dominating all quad), but JJ's scores have been slowly creeping up since 2012; she's been adding difficulty and cleaning up her form very gradually over the years, and by the time Trials rolled around, she had a cumulative difficulty only two tenths lower than Simone. Yet everyone was still saying Simone would be unbeatable in Rio, proving my point that no-one was really noticing JJ for her gymnastics ability._

 _What happened in Rio was that both JJ and Simone both came out and had a fabulous day; JJ just happened to have a fire underneath her that helped her reach that little bit higher. It wasn't easy for her to reach that upper level; the tears after her floor exercise speak volumes about that. But she did it, and she did it when it counted, and she won it fair and square._

 _ **Is JJ coming back next year?**_

 _I don't know. I'm inclined to say that the Olympics may have been her last outing as an elite gymnast. JJ's been around as long as Aly, and while Aly feels she could keep going for sure, JJ didn't take a break after the London Games like Aly did, plus she's had a really rough 18 months what with her dad getting sick and then passing away. I think, if she is going to come back, she's definitely going to take some time off first; girl needs to grieve and heal. We'll just have to wait and see._

* * *

With only a few days left before she would leave for the Kellogg's Tour, JJ felt as though she had been coping much better than before with the loss of her dad. A forcible reminder to herself every day about talking to her mom or Will when she started to feel overwhelmed had helped her keep from losing it again.

"Hey Mom, got a minute?" she asked softly on Tuesday morning as she walked into the kitchen.

"Always," Sandy said with a smile. "Where's Will?"

"Gone for a run," JJ replied, sliding up onto a counter stool.

"How's the hand?" Sandy asked, slowly stacking away the dirty dishes from breakfast at the side of the sink.

"A little sore… but it's alright," JJ replied, flexing her fingers and stretching her hand. "I really am sorry about the mirror… I feel like such an idiot"

"It's alright," Sandy said with a warm smile. "You were angry and upset… and to be honest, I've been thinking of getting something new for the hallway anyway"

Sandy chuckled to herself as JJ grinned.

"So what did you want to ask?"

JJ took a deep breath. "I've been thinking of asking Will to move in with us"

Sandy sighed, a smile crossing her face as she placed her hands down on the counter before her.

"Honestly, I was thinking the same thing… he spends enough time here as it is… I really don't see the point in making him pay rent for the apartment when he hasn't been there since Trials," she replied.

"And not only that," JJ started softly, "I know you can look after yourself… but I kind of don't like the idea of you being alone in the house while I'm gone on tour"

Sandy gave her daughter an appreciative smile.

"It's sweet of you to worry about me," she said softly. "Normally I'd say I'll be fine… but I think having Will around would be good company. Not to mention… his cooking is to _die_ for"

JJ laughed. "I'd be the size of a house if I wasn't an athlete thanks to his cooking"

Sandy chuckled. "Well… why don't you ask him tonight? I'm going out for dinner with a few of my friends, and I'll probably be back late, but we can always discuss it together tomorrow"

JJ nodded, slipping off the stool. "I think it'll be good for us"

Sandy smiled.

"I think so too"

* * *

"So Mom and I were talking today," JJ said conversationally as they washed up the dishes from their dinner. "And we kinda came to a mutual agreement"

"Yeah, about what?" Will replied, taking the clean plate from her hands and drying it off with the dish towel.

"We were wondering how you'd feel about moving in with us," JJ said, setting down the scrubber she was using and turning to face Will.

Will looked slightly surprised, setting the plate down on the counter beside him before turning to JJ.

"Seriously?" he asked. JJ nodded.

"Don't feel like you have to say yes… we just thought it would kind of make sense… I mean, you've basically been living here anyway since the Olympic Trials… and I kinda don't want my mom all alone while I'm away on tour," she said softly.

"Well… it _would_ save me from paying rent on an apartment I'm not using… and I can't say I'd hate living with you full time," Will replied with a cheeky grin. "Are you sure your mom's ok with it?"

JJ nodded. "I think she wants the company to be honest"

"Then I'm sold," Will chuckled.

"Good," JJ said with a grin. "Now I'll have a personal breakfast chef… seeing as that's really all I keep you around for anyway"

"Oh really?" Will laughed. "Is that all I'm good for?"

"Pretty much," JJ teased, laughing as Will reached over and slapped her ass.

"There's lots of other things I'm good at," Will said with a mischievous grin. "And you know it"

"Prove it," JJ shot back, fighting back a smile as she slowly backed away from Will. "Put your money where your mouth is"

"Oh I can think of a few places I'd like to put my mouth," Will said huskily, lunging for her and grabbing her around the waist. JJ practically melted at his touch as he pressed his lips to hers in a passionate kiss.

Deep in the pit of her stomach, something reared its head, begging to be further untapped, further teased and tantalized.

"I think we should take this upstairs," she breathed as they broke apart. Will's only response was to nod, before taking her hand and guiding her out of the kitchen.

As they reached the top of the stairs, the primal urge in her stomach reared even further.

With a somewhat rough shove, she pushed Will over the threshold of her bedroom, kicking the door closed behind her before grabbing him and pushing him up against it.

"Woah," Will murmured as she pressed herself up against him. "I like where this is going"

Grabbing the collar of his shirt, JJ pulled him down towards her, capturing his lips with such ferocious need that Will didn't know if he would actually last until his clothes came off.

Pulling her up against him, he cupped her ass, squeezing it gently as she ground her pelvis against him.

"Oh god," he groaned, breaking the kiss. "You're gonna be the death of me woman"

Stretching up, JJ gently nibbled on his collarbone, working her way up towards his ear with light kisses against his skin.

When she reached his ear, she changed tactics. With almost animalistic desire, she bit down on his ear lobe, making him jump as they broke apart.

"Hey!" he exclaimed, looking at her curiously before slowly breaking into a grin. "Boy, you are in some kind of mood"

"You wanna see where this goes?" JJ asked in a husky whisper.

"Do I ever," Will murmured, leaning down towards her. He was caught off guard when JJ grabbed him again, pushing him backwards towards the bed. He staggered, nearly losing his balance before landing on the edge of the mattress.

Before he could speak, JJ was straddling his lap, grinding her hips against him as she kissed him deeply again.

This time, Will was hardly surprised when she bit down on his lower lip, just hard enough to send a hot flash of pain racing through his nerves.

"You wanna go hard?" he asked, grabbing her around the waist and flipping them over so he had her pinned down beneath him. "You want that?"

"Yes," JJ breathed. "I want you to fuck me until I can't walk"

"Oh baby I can do way more than that," Will whispered, grabbing her wrists and pinning them up above her head. "I'm going to mark every inch of your body I can reach"

Keeping one hand on her wrists, he used his other hand to push the fabric of her T-shirt up her torso. Letting go of her wrists at the last minute, he pulled the shirt up and over her head, casting it aside before dipping his head down to her chest. Fastening his lips around the flesh at the top of her breast, he sucked hard, knowing it would leave a very visible mark come morning.

"Oh my god," JJ groaned, writhing beneath him.

"If you like that, maybe I should stop?" Will teased, lifting his head.

"Don't you dare," JJ growled.

"What are you going to do about it?" Will said, pulling back just far enough that he wasn't touching JJ at all.

"Please…," JJ moaned, reaching up for him, only to have him force her hands back down above her head.

"Beg me," he breathed, just millimeters from her face. "Tell me what you want me to do to you"

"Please touch me… mark me as yours…," JJ breathed.

"On one condition," Will said softly. "Show me how you're going to think of me when you're away on tour"

JJ gasped softly as he brought his fingers to the button of her shorts. With deft hands, he pulled at the denim, sliding them and her panties down her legs until she was lying beneath him in nothing but her bra.

"Show me," Will said again, his voice more commanding than before.

Obliging immediately, JJ brought her left hand down between her legs, her fingers running between her folds as Will kept a tight grip on her left leg. His fingers were digging into her muscles, reminding her of his dominance in this particular moment.

As he watched her teasing and touching herself, he knew he had to start ridding himself of his clothing. Just seconds later, he was pulling his shirt over his head and tossing it to one side.

"You're not allowed to cum yet," he said firmly as he undid his jeans and wriggled his way out of them. "I believe that's my job"

She gasped again when he grabbed her knees, pushing her legs up towards her stomach and bringing his lips down to her inner thigh. Without a second thought, he bit down on the sensitive skin just below her groin, causing her to cry out as her muscles contracted without control.

"Just touch me," she gasped. "Please"

"Not yet," Will replied, leaning over her and gazing down at her porcelain skin. Already, a bruise had appeared on her breast, just above the line of her bra.

"I believe I was the one who started this," JJ said breathlessly.

"And I believe I'm the one who's going to finish it," Will replied, sliding a hand beneath her back and easily unhooking her bra. Throwing it into the growing pile of their clothing, he dipped his head towards her chest again. But instead of teasing her breasts, like he knew she wanted, he teased the spot on her neck, just beneath her ear.

Even through the haze of arousal and pleasure, JJ still managed to push Will's boxers down his hips with her left hand, smiling inwardly when he kicked the rest of the way out of them.

"What if… I do this?" he breathed, bracing himself on one hand and unexpectedly slipping two fingers into her warmth.

"Oh fuck!" JJ groaned, her hands flying to his back in search of grounding. Wanting to inflict on him what she had felt so far, she dug her nails into the skin of his upper back, dragging them up towards his shoulders as he curled his fingers inside her.

"Ah!" he exclaimed, suddenly pulling away.

"Sorry, sorry!" JJ exclaimed. "Did I hurt you?"

"A little, but it's alright," he said with a chuckle, wincing as he brought a hand to his back to feel out the scratches.

"We can stop," JJ said softly.

"After I got you all hot and bothered?" Will replied with a grin. "It's ok… just watch the claws Jareau"

"Ok," she breathed as he closed the gap between them again.

"Where were we?" he asked, his voice barely above a whisper.

"You were-"

"Oh yes," Will groaned, surprising her when he pushed her legs apart and sank deeply into her. JJ let out a loud groan, tipping her head back as her eyes fell closed.

"Go on," JJ gasped. "Just fuck me"

"You know on second thought… I think I want to see your sexy little ass while I pound you into next week," Will growled, slipping out of her again much to her protests. She had barely turned over onto her stomach when he grabbed her hips, lifting her up towards him as he positioned himself behind her.

When he pushed into her, immediately brushing against her sensitive walls, she cried out, dropping her head down towards her chest as he started to rock against her.

"Oh no babe… head up," Will said firmly from behind her.

And then one of his hands was winding through her hair, pulling her head back towards him as he pounded his hips against her with an erratic rhythm.

Leaning over her, Will pressed his lips to the back of her shoulder, sinking his teeth into her soft flesh and biting down. It was harder than he'd bitten earlier, capturing JJ's full attention.

"Fuck!" JJ groaned, instinctively throwing her head back further as Will let go and moved his attention to her neck. The bite on her shoulder throbbed, the pain only serving to intensify the pleasure. Her mind was a fog of the pain and the pleasure, but even through the haze, she became acutely aware of Will sucking hard on the pulse point of her neck.

"You're gonna leave a mark," she hissed through her teeth, bringing one hand up behind her to grab the back of Will's head.

"That's exactly what I want to do," Will groaned, straightening up and letting go of her hair, his hand finding purchase on her shoulder. With his other hand, he landed a hard slap on her ass, sending a sharp sting shooting through her.

The animalistic desire in her stomach was going off like a firework. Sometimes, pleasure and pain had to mix… sometimes, she just had to let off some steam.

She was the first to fall over the edge, the release rocking through her as she let out a scream. Every muscle in her body seemed to go limp, the pleasure blinding her temporarily as she collapsed in a heap of breathless cries. Somewhere above her, she felt Will reach his climax, emptying himself deep into her with a loud groan.

She took a moment to catch her breath, keeping her eyes closed as Will shuffled her over before falling down beside her in a sweaty heap.

"That was… different," he chuckled a few minutes later, making JJ open her eyes. "Had some built up frustration did we?"

JJ grinned. "Something like that"

Reaching out, Will gently fingered the bruise showing up on the crook of her neck. "I left a lot of marks on you"

"It's ok," she said softly, bringing her hand up to cover his. "Really"

Smiling, Will leaned in, pressing a kiss to her lips, before rolling onto his back with a heavy sigh.

Taking one last deep breath to ground herself, JJ shuffled across, tucking her head beneath Will's chin as he wrapped an arm around her.

She knew that encounter would be playing through her mind during the dark nights of tour. Of that, she was totally certain.


	138. Chapter 138

**A/N: Lots of great stuff coming!**

* * *

" _You excited for tour?" Sandy asked as JJ came into the kitchen after her run._

" _Yeah… I can't wait to see all the girls again," JJ replied, setting her phone down on the table before turning to the fridge._

 _As she watched JJ open the fridge and reach in for a bottle of water, Sandy frowned._

" _Is that a bruise on your back?" she asked, moving a little closer. "JJ, what did you do? It's huge!"_

" _Huh?"_

 _Attempting to look over her shoulder, JJ let the fridge door fall closed as her mother closed in behind her._

" _How did you manage to bruise your… oh… oh no," Sandy breathed._

 _JJ suddenly realized what her mother must have spotted, and resisted the urge to slap herself in the face. Will had bitten her shoulder the previous evening, and she had completely forgotten about it while getting dressed._

 _Turning, she found her mother looking at her with a mixture of curiosity and parental horror, her cheeks having turned a deep pink._

" _It's nothing bad… I… we… I'll cover it up…," JJ stammered, shooting her mother a rueful smile as she slowly backed towards the door, at the same moment that Will decided to come into the room._

" _Hey babe, how was your run-"_

" _Go, go upstairs!" JJ said forcefully, turning him around and pushing him out of the room. Sandy watched on, shaking her head before turning to the coffee machine._

 _She was all for being an open-minded parent, especially as JJ was an adult anyway… but her daughter really was going to be the death of her._

* * *

The 2016 Kellogg's Tour of Gymnastics Champions was well and truly underway. The first weeks of rehearsal had felt like a big party, with all the teams reunited again as they practiced and perfected an exhilarating show for the fans.

The second show, in Seattle, had finished for the evening, and the girls were just concluding the VIP signing session. They had been inundated with drawings and gifts from excited fans, and had taken many a photo with plenty of excited little girls.

Now, JJ was heading for the foyer of the arena with one of the event organizers.

After seeing the Instagram post from Brooklyn's mom during the Olympics, Lucy had organized tickets for Brooklyn and her mom to attend the Seattle stop of the Kellogg's Tour. What she had also organized was for JJ to meet with Brooklyn and her mom at the very conclusion of the evening, unbeknownst to Brooklyn and her mom.

She spotted them in a little alcove off the main hall as she approached. Their backs were to her, both of them talking with Lucy, who caught JJ's eye over their shoulders.

Approaching the little room, JJ stopped in the doorway as Lucy finished speaking to them.

"… and I'm so glad you enjoyed the show"

"It was amazing, wasn't it Brooklyn? We can't thank you enough for the tickets… it's been a really up and down few months for us, so this was really special," Brooklyn's mom said warmly.

"There is just one more thing I'd like to do for you," Lucy said with a smile. "I just need you to turn around"

Brooklyn was the first to turn around. When her eyes landed on JJ standing in the doorway, her little face lit up with complete and utter joy.

"Hi Brooklyn," JJ said with a smile. Brooklyn let out an excited squeal, bounding forwards and throwing her arms around JJ's waist in a tight hug.

"Oh my gosh this is the best day ever!" Brooklyn exclaimed, making Lucy and her mom laugh as JJ gave her a tight squeeze.

"JJ and I… we heard from your mom about your dad," Lucy said gently as the four of them moved to take seats on the squashy little armchairs that had been crammed into the space.

"He was very sick… he died," Brooklyn said softly, her expression changing to one of lingering sadness. "I feel really sad about it sometimes"

"It's ok to be sad," JJ said softly, reaching out and taking Brooklyn's hand. "I get sad about my dad all the time"

"Sometimes, when I cry… I feel bad… because the other kids at gymnastics think it's weird," Brooklyn said.

JJ gave the young girl a small smile. "You shouldn't feel bad for crying. It's normal, when you're sad and hurting… it's how you express that emotion… I cried almost every day at the Olympics, and that's completely ok, because I was really sad"

Half an hour later, after a sweet little talk with Brooklyn and her mom, a couple of photos, and lots of hugs, JJ was heading back to the bus to rejoin the rest of the group.

Meeting Brooklyn had helped her gain a fresh new perspective on her own grief, as meeting her young fans usually managed to do.

Somehow, she was feeling all that much stronger and far more prepared to handle what was most definitely ahead.


	139. Chapter 139

**A/N: Always here for happy JJ!**

* * *

"Holy crap… I literally have about a hundred questions in my inbox!" JJ gasped one evening as they all sat relaxing on the bus. She had opened up her Tumblr page for the first time since opening her inbox, and now, she had a serious backlog.

"HA! They figured out it's you!" Aly laughed, throwing herself down on the couch beside JJ with a grin.

"I'm sure they already knew it was me," JJ said with a roll of her eyes. "Guess I better start answering some"

"Here, I'll help," Aly said cheekily, getting a scoff out of JJ.

"Yeah, if I let you help, suddenly everyone on Tumblr will have inside knowledge of all my wild sexcapades"

Aly burst out laughing as Simone giggled from across the bus.

Opening the inbox, JJ scrolled right down to the bottom, starting from the earliest dated questions.

 _ **Um, oh my god… is this really you JJ? If so, that's so cool!  
**_ _Haha, yep! It's really me!_

 _ **After the Rio AA, in all the other finals and interviews that followed, you seemed so much more happy and relaxed. Did you feel better after getting through the AA, do you think it helped you with the loss of your dad?  
**_ _After the AA, I felt on top of the world. I knew that even if I fell in every single final after that, I'd still accomplished something that until then had seemed like a distant dream. Of course I was still a little nervous (especially for beam!) It did help a lot, the excitement and all the positive vibes that came with that win automatically elevated my mood. I don't know if you guys realise it, but how you talk about us really does affect how we feel about ourselves and our performances. Until that day, everyone was talking about my dad, how sad I must be, etc, and it kinda made it worse. But after the AA, all anyone could talk about was my surprise win and how amazing it was. Everyone seemed to forget about all the sadness of losing my dad, and in turn, I stopped thinking about it as much too._

 _ **I lost my older sister just a few months ago, and I saw that you lost your sister when you were 10. Does it ever get better? Do you still think about her?  
**_ _First of all I'm so sorry about your sister. I know how hard it is and I'm sending lots of love and support your way! But don't worry, it absolutely does get better. I know this may sound bad at the moment, but eventually, I just forgot that she died. Of course, I still remember her, but I just focus on the great memories that I had with her and I don't let the sadness get to me anymore._

 _ **Is Will a lot taller than you?  
**_ _He is but we make it work when it matters *wink wink*_

Aly giggled. "Do you really want to put that out there? Start sharing the sordid details of your sex life?"

"Do I look like I really care?" JJ asked dryly, getting another laugh out of Aly. "Besides, I'm only hinting at something that _should_ just be common sense anyway... we've been together for _four years_. If they think I'm not having sex, they're crazy"

"This is why I love you," Aly laughed, slinging an arm over JJ's shoulders as they moved to the next question.

 _ **Does Simone's energy ever run out?  
**_ _Maybe at 3am, but otherwise, no haha._

 _ **Who was the first famous gymnast that you met and how did you react?  
**_ _Ok funny story. My mom and I were at the mall when I was about 7 or 8 and when we walked past the bookstore, we realised Shannon Miller was in there signing books about the Mag Seven, and I FREAKED OUT, my mom said I just about fainted from being so excited. I went in and got to talk to her and she was so super lovely. The funny thing is, when I met her again during the London Games, she remembered the whole thing._

 _ **If you don't mind me asking, when/how did you and Will end up getting together considering you were friends first? Were you excited about it?  
**_ _Will and I had known each other for a really long time and he had been crushing on me for a while, but he made the first move and kissed me when I got home from London. I was so happy but I kinda pushed him away because I was going on tour for two months and I didn't want our relationship to have a rocky start with me being away for so long. He promised that we could talk when I got back, so we did and we worked things out. We officially got together when we went for a run a few days after the tour ended._

 _ **What was your reaction in 2012 when McKayla fell on vault?  
**_ _I was so so crushed for McKayla, I nearly cried myself. She was the reigning world champion, like, I don't think you could ever understand how holding that title makes you put a lot of pressure on yourself to deliver on that ability. She was pretty upset too, she got back to the village and just started crying, so of course I started crying too, but in the end it all turned out ok._

 _ **Could you imagine Will doing gymnastics?  
**_ _Honestly no haha. He's too tall. He's always been more of a runner._

* * *

The tour wound its way across the country, delighting gymnasts and non-gymnasts alike with the fun, carefree, electric performances.

JJ was feeling tired, but she was enjoying herself nonetheless. The more time she spent on the road with the girls, the closer their friendships got. They had turned into an incredible support system for her when the days started to turn rough, and she couldn't have been more grateful for them if she tried.

"Keep it moving folks! We're on a tight schedule!"

The voice of the event manager was loud and clear above the general hubbub of the crowd waiting to meet the gymnasts. They were all congregating near the table, slowly thinning out into a line as they got closer.

"Hi," JJ said sweetly as a little boy approached, his mom right behind him. He had fiery red curls that fell in a mop over his eyes, and freckles smattered across his nose. "What's your name?"

"Monty," the little boy replied. Smiling, he lifted his hand up to the table, revealing a red rose. "This is for you"

"Aw," JJ beamed, one hand going to her heart as she reached over and took the rose from Monty's hand. "That's very sweet of you Monty, thank you so much!"

"Can I marry you?"

The pure innocence of his question and the adorable smile on his face nearly made JJ's heart explode as his mom chuckled behind him. To her right, Aly was giggling, her eyes fixed on the adorable little boy.

"Of course," JJ chuckled. "You are way too precious Monty"

"Can I get a photo of you two?" Monty's mom asked.

"Sure! Why don't you sit him up here?" JJ replied, patting the edge of the table. His mom smiled, lifting Monty up to sit on the table. Leaning forward, JJ put her arms around his waist in a little hug, their faces right next to each other as they both beamed at the camera.

Moments later, the photo was taken and Monty and his mom were on their way. At the last second, Monty turned, blowing JJ a kiss before waving goodbye as Aly squealed with delight.

"How is it you get all the cute boys? Will... Monty... that little kid at your gym who practically drools over you...," she teased.

JJ grinned.

"Everybody wants a slice"


	140. Chapter 140

**A/N: Two things. I have only seen snippets of the Kellogg's Tour, so I'm taking some of my dance background and using my creative license to invent numbers they would have done haha. Second is, Jordon (littleoblivion, go check out her fic Forward, it's incredible!) and I have spent all weekend sussing out a little muse baby that turned into the most indepth and incredible idea we've ever had. Good news? It's for Undying Champion! The arc will appear soon enough, it'll probably be VERY interesting, and it'll slow the pace of the story down for a while so I can get EVERYTHING in. But stick around, because you have that to look forward to, and to thank Jordon for helping me, you can go read and review Forward!**

 **Also since establishing this idea with Jordon, I've been hit with the urge to start rewriting this story to include even more detail haha! There's lots of things I missed and a lot of missed opportunities for backstory and character development. I may eventually do it, but fear not, this iteration isn't going anywhere. If I start rewriting it, I'll let you guys know, and just take it chapter at a time. But I'd appreciate your thoughts; would you like a way more detailed version that includes a lot more personal detail and development, like JJ's family and Will's family etc?**

 **Hope everyone had a fantastic Christmas!**

* * *

Music thumped through the arena as JJ stood by the edge of the floor, watching the first group of girls performing. It was her personal favourite routine of the whole show; an upbeat, 'girl power' inspired dance routine to _Salute_ by Little Mix. As well as being a dance routine, it also incorporated some powerful tumbling from JJ and Simone, which was why they were waiting on adjacent corners for their turn to go.

As the song built into the bridge, JJ stepped up onto the very edge of the carpet, dusting off her hands as the other girls split down the middle and danced their way off the floor

" _It's who we are, we don't need no... camouflage. It's the female... federal, and we're taking off! If you're with me, women, let me hear you say!"_

Flashing Simone a grin, she stepped up to the corner as the chorus broke out, and immediately broke into a powerful run across the floor.

"Ladies all across the world, listen up, we're looking for recruits!"

Punching high off the floor, she whipped through a strong double layout, landing it easily on her feet as Simone stepped up and took off from her corner.

" _If you're with me, let me see your hands, stand up and salute! Get your killer heels, sneakers, pumps or lace up your boots! Representing all the women, salute, salute!"_

The other girls rejoined them as Simone nailed the landing on her own double layout, getting back into their formation as the routine continued along.

As the crowd of gymnastics fans in the arena cheered and clapped for them, JJ found herself getting lost in the fun and energy of the choreography. Here, with her girls, was truly an experience she couldn't replicate, and she was forever glad that after the pressure of the Olympic year, they were able to let loose and have some fun to celebrate their success.

The only drawback was eventually, it had to end.

* * *

Dropping his keys on the hall table, Will turned back to the front door and locked it behind him.

He hadn't noticed it before, but the air outside was truly starting to cool down, a slight nip in every gust of wind.

'Which is just great,' he thought to himself. He loved living in Pittsburgh, but he would always miss the slightly warmer weather of Louisiana. Not to mention the food. He almost groaned as the thought of his mom's shrimp gumbo rolled through his mind.

What he wouldn't give for a big bowl of that right about now.

Rolling his neck from side to side to stretch out the crick, he started up the stairs. Finally catching up with some of his friends from high school had led to an afternoon of beer. While he'd been careful not to overindulge himself, he was ready to shower and sleep.

As he headed up the stairs towards JJ's bedroom, the gentle silence that had settled around him upon entering the house was quietly broken by the sound of muffled sobs floating down from the landing.

His heart sank a little. Seeing as he and Sandy were the only two in the house… he didn't have to guess at who was crying upstairs.

When he reached the landing, he hesitated for a moment at the top, before turning and walking in the direction of Sandy's room, rather than JJ's. He immediately noticed that the door was ajar, soft light spilling out onto the carpeted floor of the second floor landing.

He knew immediately that he should go and check on his girlfriend's mom. Otherwise it would just feel wrong to leave her there, alone and crying in her room. But on the other hand, he didn't want to overstep any boundaries. Sandy had already done so much for him… he didn't want to make her feel uncomfortable.

But the caring side of him was winning out, and before too long, he found his feet moving towards the door.

"Sandy?" he said softly as he approached the door, reaching out and gently pushing it open a little further.

"Oh… hi Will… I didn't realize you were back," Sandy said tearfully, lifting her face. She was sitting cross legged in the middle of her bed, clad in sweatpants and a long sleeved t-shirt, her blonde hair pulled back into a messy bun. Tears still shone on her cheeks, leaving glistening trails from her lower lashes.

"This is going to be a dumb question… but are you alright?" he asked, standing somewhat awkwardly in the doorway. Sandy let out a weak chuckle, shaking her head as she wiped away a few more tears.

"Not really," she whispered, her voice wavering terribly as she spoke. She buried her face in her hands, sitting forward a little as her shoulders heaved with fresh tears.

Swallowing hard, Will stepped into the room. In a few short strides, he reached the end of the bed. He hesitated for a moment, before slowly lowering himself down onto the edge of the mattress.

"It was so stupid," Sandy said tearfully, lifting her face again. "Michael and I always used to argue about leaving drawers open. I used to tell him off for it all the time… among other things, stupid things"

Will stayed silent, simply listening, allowing Sandy to talk, to vent.

"I was getting ready for bed… and I turned and caught my hip on the drawer… my first reaction was to yell out and tell him off… before I realized he wasn't here"

His heart sank. For Sandy, that moment must have felt just like losing Michael all over again. Just when she and JJ had been starting to heal… grief had delivered another cruel blow.

He reached out, placing his hand on top of hers where it was resting on top of the covers. Sandy looked down at their hands, before looking up at him with a smile.

"It just sucks," she said softly. "I've always been one to pick up and carry on when things get tough… seems like this time it's not working so well in my favour"

"Something you and JJ have in common," Will replied without really thinking. Sandy chuckled, sniffing back a few more tears.

"Never have you spoken more truth," she said, dropping her head down to her other hand and taking a deep breath. "I just miss him… he had such a presence in this house… it's just so quiet without him. It's not fair. We should have had forever… and here we are without him, just trying to get through every day as it comes"

Will nodded understandingly. They sat in silence for a few minutes, Sandy's sobs having diminished to sniffs.

After a little while, Sandy suddenly let out a weak laugh, shaking her head. "Okay, I give in… it was me that was leaving the drawers open"

For a moment, Will just stared at her, caught a little off guard. But just moments later, they both started to laugh.

For sometimes, in the face of grief, all you could do was laugh. If only to keep from crying

* * *

 _ **Before you worry, everything is alright. I've handled it, but I just wanted to let you know that I think you should call your mom when you get a chance. She's had a little bit of a rough night and she's really missing your dad. Hope you're having fun with the girls xx – Will**_

The text had come through at the end of the meet and greet session. The second they were released to head back to the hotel, JJ had immediately pulled out her phone and dialed her mom.

" _JJ? Is everything alright?"_ came Sandy's voice after the fourth ring. _"It's so late!"_

"Yeah," JJ said softly, a little smile creeping onto her face. "Yeah, I'm ok. How are you?"

" _Taking it day by day… I'm guessing you spoke to Will?"_

"He sent me a text… said you had a bit of a rough night"

Sandy let out a little chuckle on the other end. _"I'm alright… he sat with me for a little while and let me vent it out… I just… had a moment… where I kind of forgot that your dad… isn't here"_

"I miss him," JJ said quietly.

" _Me too baby girl. More than anyone could ever imagine"_


	141. Chapter 141

**A/N: Hope you're all keen for more!**

* * *

" _How's it all going?"_

"Pretty good," JJ said, an exasperated sigh escaping her. "We're all exhausted, but it's all good fun"

"Hey Will, you gotta step up your game," Simone called over JJ's shoulder as she flopped down on one of the couches. They were on the bus, heading for the next stop on the tour. JJ was counting down the days until they were in Pittsburgh; she would absolutely be spending that night at home, in her own bed.

" _Why?"_ Will chuckled.

"This kid in Kansas City deadass proposed to JJ, he had a red rose and everything, it was the CUTEST thing I've ever seen in my life!" Aly shrieked, throwing her arms around JJ as she bounced into the frame.

" _Oh I've got competition have I?"_ he teased, getting a nod out of JJ.

"I must say, little Monty was on the right track too," JJ said seriously. "I'd only have to wait twelve years until we could be together"

Aly snorted, making Will laugh.

" _I think you're forgetting something cher,"_ Will said slyly, leaning closer to the camera.

"Oh yeah, what's that?" JJ asked.

" _Do you not remember me marking you as mine?"_

Laurie spat out a mouthful of water, sending the girls around her into howls of laughter.

"You what now?" she asked incredulously as JJ doubled over laughing. Aly was fighting the urge to break out into total hysterics, while Will sat on the other end of the camera chuckling at the girls' reactions.

"Remember that bruise I had to help JJ cover up on her shoulder?" Aly said. Laurie nodded, her big eyes seemingly even wider than usual.

"It wasn't a bruise… it was a bite mark," Aly giggled.

"Kinky," Ashton muttered as she walked past, sending Simone into peals of laughter yet again. JJ and Aly both watched as Laurie's expression went from one of confusion to one of embarrassed surprise.

"OH!" she exclaimed, her cheeks flushing bright red as they all started laughing once more. Still grinning from ear to ear, JJ whirled around to face her laptop again.

"You need to start learning how to keep your mouth shut when there's young ears around," she laughed.

" _You love me,"_ Will chuckled, leaning back in his chair. _"I could leave another mark… somewhere less visible?"_

Simone squealed as JJ's cheeks flushed bright red.

"I'm hanging up now," she said through a grin, moving the cursor to the red button to end the call.

" _I'll talk to you tomorrow,"_ Will laughed.

"Maybe. We'll see," JJ replied with a grin. "I love you"

With that, she ended the call. Slowly closing her laptop, she turned back to face the girls, who were all grinning madly.

"I'm so glad one of us has a wild sex life," Aly said after nearly a minute's silence.

"Oh shut up," JJ said dryly.

Whether it was the raciness of the conversation, or being giddy from how tired they were, none of them could help it when they all started laughing again.

* * *

Relaxing after a rehearsal led JJ to answer more of the questions sitting in her Tumblr inbox. She was liking the more personal aspect it allowed her to have when interacting with her fans, and judging from their responses, they were thoroughly enjoying it as well.

 _ **You always seem so nonchalant about your results, kind of like if you do your best and get bronze, you're happy, but do you ever get really competitive? Are you protective of the fact that you've been beam champion since 2011?  
**_ _I try not to let my competitive side show because sometimes it freaks me out, but yeah, I'm a lot more competitive than I show. I'm happy with any medals I get, but of course I'd love to be on top every time. I don't see that as bad though, just super ambitious! I'm kinda protective of the beam title, but there's so many amazing beam queens competing right now – from my teammates to the Chinese, Romanians, Wevers, etc – that I wouldn't be too mad if someone else won._

 _ **Favourite competition memory?  
**_ _This is another question where I can't choose just one! Honestly I think my best memories are from when my teammates and I are bonding in the hotel room. We had a super fun game of Never Have I Ever once hahaha!_

 _ **Do you feel like you've grown as a gymnast since 2012? You seemed so shy then!  
**_ _Of course I have! I've gained a ton of confidence and mental strength. I've learned to bounce back from disappointments and to lead my younger teammates. Sports really do help you grow as a person!_

 _ **How do you think your dad would have reacted when you became Olympic AA champ? What would he have said/done?  
**_ _He would have cried for sure, and told me how much he loves me and how proud he is to be my dad._

 _ **After the disaster on bars at nationals, did you think you would still make the Olympic team?  
**_ _That crossed my mind a couple of times, but I knew that if I proved that I could be consistent and deliver when it really matters, Marta would overlook it. I tried not to overthink it too much and focus on training._

 _ **Which medal you've won has surprised you the most?  
**_ _Probably my bars bronze in 2012! It was my weakest event and I wasn't expecting it at all, but hey, it happened!_

 _ **Please do elaborate on that Never Have I Ever game. Who got targeted?  
**_ _Aly targeted me *eyeroll* typical._


	142. Chapter 142

**A/N: Sweet chapter, I hope it lives up to your expectations!**

* * *

The Pittsburgh show had finally reached them, marking the point that was almost two thirds of the way through the tour.

Knowing her family and all the kids from her gym were in the crowd, JJ had gone out and put on her best show for them. She was a little more eager for the show to end than she would care to admit; she wanted to go home, even if it was just for one night, and shower in her own bathroom, and sleep in her own bed.

The end of the final performance landed upon them with a euphoric bang, the Pittsburgh crowd seeming to generate twice as much noise as they screamed and cheered for all the girls.

"Alright, alright!" the event announcer exclaimed over the microphone as the girls gathered in a huddle on the floor. The guys, who had been over on the high bar, started to head towards them.

"Thank you all very much for attending this performance of the 2016 Kellogg's Tour of Gymnastics Champions! It's been a great evening! But now, before we can let you all go, there is one more thing we would like to do tonight! We have a special guest joining us tonight, so let's give them a round of applause!"

"I am so tired. I hope this is quick," JJ sighed, getting a giggle out of Simone and a nod of agreement from Aly.

The applause began to lift, prompting them to turn their attention to the floor entrance to the arena.

JJ was extremely surprised to see that it was Will walking towards them.

"Uh... what is he doing?" she hissed, turning to Aly. Aly smiled, wheeling her back around and giving her a gentle push forward as Will walked up the steps and joined them on the floor.

"What are you doing?" JJ asked softly, her heart racing as a smile fought its way onto her face. Will grinned, toying with the microphone in his hands before lifting it up to his mouth.

"Who else absolutely loves this girl?" Will called out, gesturing towards JJ with a huge grin on his face. The arena erupted into rapturous cheers and applause, which made JJ smile even though she was still seriously confused.

Taking a deep breath, Will kept his gaze fixed out on the crowd as he continued to speak. "I first met JJ when we were eight years old, and we were in the same class at school. My first ever class at that school was gym class, and we were doing rope climbs. Obviously, if you're a gymnast, rope climbs come to you a little more naturally than it does to others"

He chuckled as quiet laughter filtered through the crowd. "Anyway, I stood with the kids at the bottom and we watched as the first two went to have their turn. One of them was JJ. She was the tiniest kid in the class but had these serious muscles, and I remember thinking 'wow, she looks really strong'. So off they go, and JJ zips up to the top of the rope and slides back down before the other kid has even managed halfway. A little while later, we had to race, and of course, she beat me. Being an eight year old boy, I got pretty upset about it and decided I would retaliate by calling her the incredible hulk"

Laughter rippled through the crowd as JJ chuckled at her partner.

"What I failed to foresee was that she wouldn't cry, she wouldn't get upset about it... no, she stamped on my foot as hard as she could and broke my toe"

The laughter grew louder as Will turned and gave JJ a grin.

"Even then, I didn't dob her in. I told the gym teacher, and my parents that I kicked a wall. Guess I had a little bit of a crush, even then"

He took another deep breath, smiling at his girl before he looked out to the crowd again. "She's an incredible gymnast, but she's an even more incredible person. She's had her fair share of hardship in life, but not once has she ever given up on her ultimate dream. In the leadup to Rio, she worked so hard through so much heartbreak that when the time came, she exceeded her own goals and expectations by far. She never fails to amaze me with her fierce determination and the passion with which she approaches everything she does. Not only that... she is so kind hearted... so down to earth... she truly makes everyone feel as if you could be her friend"

Turning directly to JJ, Will smiled, now speaking directly to her. She noticed that his hands were starting to shake, mirroring the racing feeling in her chest.

"You are truly the most beautiful person I've ever known, inside and out," he said, his voice softer but still projected by the microphone. "Your life is crazy, jam packed, yet you've always loved those around you with a fierceness I can't even describe. Every day since I've known you has been so happy, and so... fulfilling. I am so proud of you... for achieving everything you have, even when things at home have been falling apart faster than you can put them back together"

By now, JJ had tears in her eyes and a hush had fallen over the arena.

"You make me so happy... I love getting to see your beautiful smile every day, and I love being there to support you and cheer you on... and I want to do that for the rest of my life," Will said, his voice softening as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a tiny velvet box.

JJ let out a soft gasp, one hand coming up over her mouth as Will slowly dropped to one knee and opened the box to reveal a gorgeous diamond engagement ring. People around the arena made a multitude of noises, but none was more prominent than Simone's gasp from behind JJ.

"Jennifer Jareau... will you marry me?"

With the last few months on her back, all JJ could do was burst into tears, managing to nod before the crowd broke into deafening applause. Behind her, she could hear Laurie and Simone screaming with excitement, Aly and Madison joining in the cheers with the crowd.

Beaming from ear to ear, Will set his microphone down on the floor. He stood up, pulling JJ into his arms and kissing her temple.

"I love you," JJ said through tears, her voice muffled by his shoulder. "I love you so much"

"I love you too," he whispered, his voice catching in his throat. Pulling away, he couldn't stop smiling, tears cresting his eyes as he removed the ring from the box and placed the box back in his pocket. Taking JJ's left hand, he gently slipped the ring onto her fourth finger, sending the audience into another raucous round of applause.

Giddy, excited, overwhelmed, and everything in between, all JJ could do was throw her arms around him again, half laughing, half crying as he spun her around off her feet.

They were engaged. After all this time, after all the ups and downs, after the extraordinary circumstances... he wanted to marry her.

Deafened by continuing applause, they finally broke apart, turning to face the ensuing hugs from the group. Aly was the first to reach them, throwing her arms around JJ in a tight squeeze as Simone ran over to hug Will.

"You totally had something to do with this, didn't you?" JJ exclaimed, wiping the tears from her cheeks as Aly laughed.

"I totally had everything to do with this," she admitted, hugging JJ tightly again.

Nearly ten minutes later, after they'd been congratulated by all the other tour members, they finally made their way out of the performance floor to excited applause.

Just half an hour of signing autographs, and then JJ could get Will all to herself.

* * *

She couldn't keep her eyes off the gorgeous diamond on her finger as she signed poster after poster for the excited fans coming through the line. Will was sitting up on a stool behind her, watching with a smile as she interacted with her young fans.

JJ looked up as a little girl came through the line with her mom, smiling nervously as she approached JJ.

"These are for you," the little girl said sweetly, reaching up and over the table to hand JJ a bouquet of roses.

"Oh thank you so much!" JJ beamed. "They're _beautiful_!"

She took a deep breath, inhaling the sweet scent of the flowers before setting them down beside her as she picked up her pen to sign the little girl's poster.

"Congratulations on your engagement JJ," said the girl's mother as JJ handed the poster back to the little girl. "You two make a beautiful couple"

"Thank you," JJ beamed, waving at the little girl as she and her mother left the line. Turning to look at Will over her shoulder, she gave him a happy smile.

Not too much longer.

* * *

After leaving the meet and greet area, JJ and Will walked hand in hand back to the main foyer, where she had been told her mom was waiting for her.

What she hadn't expected was her mom, her grandmother, Jason, Katie, Nick, and Will's parents, all waiting to greet them with smiles bigger than life.

"Oh JJ, congratulations!" Sandy exclaimed, throwing her arms around JJ as they reached her. JJ beamed, holding on tight to her mom as Janine pulled her son into a tight hug. She held on tight for a few moments, wanting to express so much in such a short time.

Pulling back, she laughed when Sandy immediately grabbed her hand to admire the ring.

"Did you expect that?" she asked with a sly grin.

"No," JJ replied, shaking her head. "But something tells me you knew about it"

"I had an idea," Sandy teased, letting JJ go as her grandmother pulled her into a hug.

She made her way through the members of her family, getting hugs and congratulations from each of them. She had to laugh when Jason gave Will a stern warning, before dropping the serious demeanour and pulling his future brother-in-law in for a squeeze.

"So," Nick said with a grin as JJ eventually reached him. "Not really a kiddo anymore, hey?"

"Not really," JJ laughed. "I feel like that won't stop you though"

Nick chuckled, putting an arm around her shoulders and giving her a squeeze. "Not on your life. Seriously though JJ... congratulations. I hope Will continues to make you as happy as he has done for the last four years"

Beaming, JJ pulled back, unable to express just how much the simple sentiment meant to her.

After a few more congratulations, hugs, and then goodbyes, the newly engaged couple headed towards the hallway that led to the dressing rooms. JJ reached out, opening the door and pulling Will just inside.

The hallway was completely deserted, but the laughter and chatter of the tour group was echoing down to them.

Stopping just inside the door, JJ grabbed Will, looping her arms around his neck and smiling lovingly up at him.

"You're perfect," he murmured, making her giggle as he wrapped his arms around her waist and leaned in for a kiss.

Their lips met, a soft, loving kiss that seemed to communicate everything they had wanted to say to each other since that moment. JJ's heart was racing excitedly in her chest, the love she had for Will seeming to grow exponentially with every second.

Will pulled back, gazing down at her as he brushed a strand of her hair from her eyes.

"Why don't you go get your things? I've booked us a place for the night to celebrate... somewhere special," he whispered.

"Ok," JJ breathed back, stretching up to kiss him once more before pulling away and heading down the hallway.

Letting out a giddy laugh as she walked to the dressing room, her eyes fell to the ring on her finger.

It was like a dream. A beautiful, wonderful dream.


	143. Author's Note

**Hey guys! Just a little interim note! Some of you may or may not have noticed that I'm giving this story a new lease of life. It's on my page under the name _Undying Champion II._ I feel I can do it so much more justice, and I'm really excited about the extra details and more in depth content I've included in it this time around! I'd love it if you could check it out, simply because I hope you all love this story and this universe as much as I do! If you do happen to check it out, I'd appreciate a line telling me what you think!**

 **Happy reading! And thank you for loving our wonderful Olympian JJ as much as I do!**


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